


Lucem Cordibus

by Qazsedc, RuineMicroft, Yuuni_Hana



Category: Ori and the Blind Forest
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe, Fantasy, Gen, Humans, Mokis, Mystery, Spirit Guardians
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:42:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 42,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27358969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Qazsedc/pseuds/Qazsedc, https://archiveofourown.org/users/RuineMicroft/pseuds/RuineMicroft, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yuuni_Hana/pseuds/Yuuni_Hana
Summary: "What would you do Guardian? If I were to take your friend's heart and use it as a medium for my experiment?"
Comments: 28
Kudos: 26





	1. A Meeting Of Faith

**And here it is! As promised, a complete rewrite of the first chapter.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading this updated and better version of the first chapter!**

* * *

One night, in a dark foreboding forest, a lone human sprinted through the undergrowth. He was being chased by a dark creature. _‘I should not be here!’_ the human thought, his feet growing weaker the longer he ran. _‘I need to find a place to hide!’_ he thought, now on the verge of collapsing. At that moment, whether it was fate or a stroke of good luck, the man saw a clearing in the distance.

Now, many would say that going into a clearing while being chased by a deadly creature is a bad idea, and they would be right in that regard, but the creature chasing the man is not a normal one at all. It is a being made entirely of darkness, hence the name, and creatures of darkness are weak upon the light, so any kind of light, whether it be the light of the sun or the moon or even the light that comes from torchlights, can hurt these creatures or even outright kill them.

“Thank the Divines!” the man shouted, running straight towards the clearing, hoping that the light of the moon would be enough to stop the creature.

When he finally arrived at the center, the man dropped down, exhausted. “Man!, that was a close one!” He said, “I should be safe here!” he added, wheezing from exhaustion.

The man may have thought that he was safe from the creature, but he forgot to calculate one thing, the night does not favor anyone. In a moment, the light of the moon was ever shining brightly towards the clearing, illuminating the beauty of it, and the next, it was gone, its brilliant light now covered by dark clouds hanging overhead.

“Damn!” the man suddenly stood up, now afraid. “Shit, shit, shit, I shouldn’t have celebrated too early!” he said to himself, carefully looking around trying to spot his hunter. _‘Where is it? Where the hell is it?’_ he frightfully thought, his heart hammering in his chest, his knees getting weak from fear.

“Sho--show yourself!” he shouted, trying to act braver, _‘I can’t run now! I’m damn exhausted and I got nowhere to run to!_ ’ he thought, trying to think of a better way to escape the monster.

And then to his misfortune, he started hearing the crunching of grass and deep, haunting breathing of a creature getting near towards where he stands. _‘Fuck it I’m dead!’_ he fearfully thought, and his knees gave out and he fell to his bottom. That was when he saw it, even in the darkness the creature was clear to see.

 _‘Wha--a--a--a howler!’_ he thought, his body petrified in fear.

A howler, one of the most dangerous, if not the most dangerous creatures anyone could ever face. It is a creature of darkness that resembles a wolf, and like a wolf, this creature could hunt you down in a matter of hours, they are known to attack in packs but from time to time one howler may be spotted alone, it was in the man's luck that his hunter seems to be alone and without a pack.

Growling at him, the howler slowly went closer to the petrified man, the man himself tried to move but his fear prevented him so. _‘Shit this is it, this is how I die!’_ the man thought, fearfully accepting his gruesome faith. He waited for the howler to attack, “Please, just end it quickly!” he said, tearfully closing his eyes accepting his faith, and waited for death to claim him.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, there was a whooshing sound and then he heard the howler yelp in pain. “What the!” he exclaimed, and opened his eyes in surprise. And then he saw something, unbelievable, standing near a tree illuminating the darkness, just to his left, looking at the howler in anger, was a spirit guardian.

“Wha-is that--is that what I think it is?” he asked to himself, looking at the spirit guardian in bewilderment and a little bit of hope.

The guardian then looked at him and asked him in a male voice, "Are you, alright sir?"

Hearing the question and determining the creature as male, the man replied, “Yes, I’m--I’m fine.”

Nodding his head, the guardian then returned his focus towards the Howler, who was now looking at him, anger evident on its one remaining eye.

The man also saw this, and was quite taken aback, _‘He managed to sneak at the side and hit the howler in the eye!’_ he thought, now quite amazed by the spirit guardian.

The spirit guardian in question summoned a sword made of light, “Let us see what you got, monster!” he shouted, and took a running start towards the howler, who had also charged towards the guardian. What came next was something the man has only ever read in books and heard in stories.

The two fought each other head-on, the howler tried to slash the guardian but he managed to evade the attack and swing his sword toward the howler, wounding the beast. The howler then backed off and started running in circles, trying to puzzle the guardian. But the guardian was far from puzzled, with a glow the guardian's sword transformed into three floating butterflies, curious, the man thought, _‘What are those for?’_ This question was answered when the butterflies, after forming into a triangle formation, suddenly let out a stream of beams towards the howler, who howled in pain.

Amazed by what he just saw, the man couldn't help but shout in glee. "Wow, that was awesome!"

Hearing the shout, the guardian looked towards the human and let out a smile, he then looked back again towards the howler and said, “Let’s finish this!” and charged, summoning a huge spear made of light, with a jump the guardian threw the spear straight towards the howler, the creature never stood a chance, it was skewered from head to it’s back, killing it quickly.

The man saw this happen and was quite shocked to see the creature getting skewered to death, _‘That’s something I won’t wish to happen to me!’_ he thought.

Seeing the creature dead and slowly disintegrating to nothing, the spirit guardian let out a deep breath and looked back towards the human, who was now standing. Walking towards him the guardian then asked. “Are you alright sir?” he said.

"Haha, I'm pretty sure you've already asked me that question." the man replied, smiling at his savior.

Blushing the spirit guardian scratched his head and said, “Sorry! I kinda forgot after all the adrenaline fighting that howler.” he replied.

The man then offered his hand and said, “Name’s Milan, and let me tell you first how thankful I am to you for saving my life!”

Taking the offered hand and shaking it the guardian replied, "And my name is Ao, and I'm glad that you're safe Milan." he then let go of the hand and added, "How did you manage to get chased by the howler anyway? They don't usually chase other people unless they come across their territories." he asked, looking at Milan for answers.

Blushing, Milan laughed quietly and said, "Well I may have lost myself inside the forest and stumbled upon the howler's territory." he replied.

Grinning Ao then said, “Knew it, it’s a good thing you only managed to anger a juvenile or else. You might have not survived the encounter!” he revealed, quite enjoying Milan’s flabbergasted face.

“A JUVENILE! YOU MEAN THE HOWLER THAT CHASED ME IS ONLY A KID!” Milan shouted, shocked from hearing those words from Ao.

Nodding his head, Ao replied, "Yup, it was quite young, if you've faced an adult instead, you may have not even managed to reach this place, adults tend to hunt far better than pups after all." he said.

Gulping, Milan then started thanking every Divine in the heavens for not sicking him with an adult howler and without having it devour him whole. _‘Oh thank the Divines I didn’t chance upon an adult howler!!’_ he thought.

Then he noticed Ao looking back towards the fallen howler, he then heard him mutter, “Sit tibi te ipsum invenies in pace ad lucem,” he quietly murmured as if praying.

Milan was intrigued by this and asked Ao, “What was that?”

Ao looked at him and questioned, “What do you mean?”

“The one that you just said, the prayer thingy?” Milan replied.

Smiling Ao nodded his head and said, “Well, it’s a prayer that my people always pray after killing a creature. Call it asking for forgiveness for killing it and wishing it good luck on its journey towards the light.”

Blinking, Milan then voiced his reaction by looking towards the fallen creature and said, "So, you prayed that the howler would forgive you from killing it and wished it good luck on its journey in the afterlife?" he asked.

Nodding his head Ao confirmed Milan’s inquiry. “Yes, I did.”

Ao then took something from one of the pockets of his leather Armor and put it on his neck and when he did his light suddenly vanished.

"Woah, what happened?" Milan asked, shocked from seeing the spirit guardian's natural glow vanish.

Smiling at him Ao explained, "It's an item we use to hide our light." he said, pointing at the pendant that is now on his neck, "It's to make sure that we don't accidentally attract attention from our enemy and so that other people wouldn't need to keep covering their eyes when they look at us." he added, smirking towards Milan.

"I see," Milan replied, he then looked back at Ao and nodded his head. He then asked, "Hey Ao? Could we perhaps leave this place? It's giving me the creeps and I don't want to chance meeting a creature far worse than the howler. Know any place we could go to?" he said, looking fearfully at the forest around them.

Agreeing, Ao then told him, “I saw a town nearby during my travel towards here, maybe we could go there and spend the night?” he said.

“Really?” Milan asked.

"Yup, I did," Ao answered

“Well that’s great, we should go there now!” Milan exclaimed happily and asked Ao to lead the way. Nodding his head Ao agreed and the two quickly took off towards the town Ao said he saw.

* * *

The town of Anima is a quaint little town located at the south of the Capital of Ardine, with its wooden houses and happy populace this town is known for its charm of being a peaceful yet eventful place add the fact that half of the populace is a mix of different kinds of creatures, then you have a colorful and endearing town like this.

That night, the town's guards were roaming around the perimeter of the town, looking out for inconspicuous characters that may wish to harm the people. It was already past midnight when one of the guards suddenly noticed two people approaching. " Hey, Jared, two people are approaching us," the guard who saw the approaching people said.

Jared, the other guard, also saw the approaching strangers and called them to a halt, “Halt!” he shouted.

The two strangers then halted and one of them replied, “We come in peace!” he shouted.

The guards looked at each other and after a few moments decided to let the two come near them, nodding both their heads together Jared called back towards the two strangers and said, "You may approach! But be aware that I and my friend are armed and ready to fight!" he warned the approaching strangers.

Moments later the guards finally saw the strangers and they were quite caught off guard. “Is that a spirit guardian?” Jared asked his colleague, “It seems it is!” the other guard replied.

When Ao and Milan finally stopped in front of the guards they were curious to see that both of them seemed to be focusing their attention solely at Ao, "Umm.. good evening sir!" Ao said, trying to break the guards' uncomfortable gaze, thankfully his greetings seemed to work and the guards greeted them back.

“Good evening to you two as well, how may we help?” the guard on the left announced.

Smiling, Milan then said, “Please sir, we only came into this town to spend the night.”

Nodding his head, Ao confirmed his friend’s words. “My friend is right sir, we came here to find shelter and food and nothing else.”

The guards looked at them for a moment, scrutinizing the two, afterwards, one of the guards nodded and said, "Very, well you two may enter the town. But be aware, one wrong move and it's jail to the two of you."

“Understood sir!” Ao replied, nodding his head in agreement.

“I understand as well sir.” Milan also replied.

The guards then let the two inside, "Welcome to the town of Anima." one of them said. Ao and Milan then proceeded inside the town. The first thing they saw was the wooden buildings lining the streets, one of these buildings is a smithy whose smith was still busy working, they also saw a few stores down on the left, and an inn on the center. "Wow, this place is nice," Milan announced, liking the general atmosphere of the place. "Yup, it is." Ao agreed. He then pointed at the inn and said to his friend, "Come on, let's go check in inside and get some food and rest."

"Agreed," Milan said, and the two continued towards the inn.

"Huh, the lady of the night, that's quite a name for an inn," Ao said, reading the inn's name.

“Really? Uh, don’t they know what that means?” Milan inquired, looking at his friend.

Ao just shook his head and said, “Don’t know.”

Arriving inside, the two saw that a lot of patrons were currently eating and drinking. Some were so drunk that they've already fallen asleep at their table. The innkeeper, a balding middle-aged man saw the two come in and welcomed them. "Welcome good sirs! To the Lady of the Night! How may I serve you?" he asked, looking at the two.

"We would like to rent a room," Milan said.

Nodding his head the innkeeper replied, “Certainly, and would you like to have a meal as well?” the innkeeper asked.

When hearing that statement, Ao's stomach suddenly made a sound, blushing Ao looked at the innkeeper and said, "Yeah, a meal as well."

Smiling at him the innkeeper then asked them to follow him, “Please, follow me to your room.”

The two followed the innkeeper towards their room, "Mind the steps!" the innkeeper warned, when they climbed the stairs towards the second floor, "Your room is right at the left in here." the innkeeper announced, pointing to the left towards a door. "Here's your key," the innkeeper said, handing the key towards Milan, "I can deliver your meals for you or you can get them downstairs, up to you."

"We'll have them delivered here sir, thank you," Ao replied.

Nodding his head the innkeeper then left the two.

Ao proceeded to open the room and saw two beds with a table between them. “This is a nice room, and the bed looks fluffy!” Milan said.

"Yeah, they do," Ao replied, and the two settled down inside their room, Ao taking the bed on the left while Milan took the one on the right.

Looking around the room Milan saw that the place was barely decorated, “Only a wallpaper and some flower pots as well as a single table in between but it still manages to look nice.” he said.

Smiling, Ao looked at his friend and replied, “Well, some said there is beauty in simplicity, so I guess that applies in this one.”

Laughing Milan nodded his head and said, “Yeah, I agree.”

And the two went into a peaceful silence. After a while, the two heard a knock on the door. Standing up, Milan opened the door and saw the innkeeper holding a tray full of food. "Here are your meals gentlemen." the innkeeper announced.

Gathering the tray Milan replied, "Thank you, sir!"

“You’re welcome lad!” the innkeeper said, and went back downstairs, to serve his other customers.

“Foods here!” Milan announced, he then closed the door and settled the tray down on the table.

“Finally, I’m starving!” Ao excitedly shouted.

The two then proceeded to dine in peace. Ao was having a blast with the food, _‘The food is so delicious!’_ he thought and continued to stuff his mouth with the delightful meal.

Milan on the other hand ate his food slower than his friend, “Guess you like it?” he asked.

Ao looked at his friend after he heard him ask him about the food, swallowing he then replied. “I can’t help it, I’m hungry and the food is delicious!” he exclaimed in joy.

And the two continued to enjoy their meal. 

* * *

After a while the duo found themselves stuffed with delicious food. Feeling tired Ao suddenly let out a yawn, followed by a stretch. "Yawn...Ahh...I could sleep right now!" he said.

Milan saw this and had to hide his face. _‘THAT WAS SO CUTE!’_ he thought.

Ao saw his friend hiding his face and asked, “Hey, what’s the problem? Why are you hiding your head?”

Blushing, and Milan answered "Nothing!"

Shaking his head from his friend's weird actions Ao then said, “Alright, I guess we should end this conversation now and go to bed!”

Agreeing, Milan then settled down on his bed. "Good night bud!" he said, wishing Ao a goodnight.

Smiling, Ao replied, "Thanks, goodnight to you as well, bud." 

That night the two fell asleep with smiles on their faces.

* * *

**So what do you guys think? Tell me in the comments below! And I hope you had a good time reading this one!**

**Ori And The Blind Forest and Ori And The Will Of The Wisps belong to Moon Studios and Xbox Game Studios.**

**This story belongs to me and Yuuni Hana**

**Happy Reading!**

**P.S. The beginning of this fic is inspired by DeltaBlade's work The Guardians of Niwen. READ IT, IT'S A GREAT STORY!**

**Anyways this is my sis down here…**

**How I got an editor**

" **I SHALL MLEM!"-Anonymous Cat Editor**

" **Oh so you're approaching me?" sis**

" **Help me edit this *puppy eye*" author bro**

" **Pay me some amethyst biatch" sis**


	2. The Three Brutes

**Yeah! New Chapter! Had a hard time doing this one and I hope you readers like it! It's not perfect but I tried my best!**

**Anyway. THANK YOU! For all the people who gave some of their time to read this story and for those who fave/followed, all of you have my thanks! Y guys just made my day!**

**So on without further adieu! On with the story!**

**Line break signifies a scene change**

**"Talking"**

**_'Thinking'_ **

* * *

  
  


When Milan finally rose from his bed, he noticed that it was different. The sheets were far softer, his pillows thicker seemingly stuffed with more feathers! He looked around the room and assessed his situation.  _ 'I'm definitely not in my bed!' _ he thought, that's when he noticed that there was another bed adjacent to his, and in that bed, another creature was sleeping peacefully. When he saw the creature's face, that's when all of his memories from last night returned.

"Woah, that seriously happened?!" he said, looking back at his new friend and confirming that none of the events last night were a dream and in fact were real.

Checking his friend and seeing that he was still asleep, Milan finally had the opportunity to truly see his friend's furry form.

He has white fur, as all Spirit Guardians usually do, his ears are long, and looks fluffy. He has two sets of what seems to be antennae on his forehead, what they are and how they are used still baffles him, he has hooves for his feet and his tail is fluffy like that of a fox, actually, if you just remove the long fluffy ears, the hooves and replace them with that of a fox while removing the antennae all together, Ao would definitely pass for one, albeit a larger one that walks and talks and wears leather armor. He even has the same muzzle as a fox!

Shaking his head from his thoughts and feeling a little bit embarrassed about his,  _ 'checking out my new friend moment' _ , Milan stood up from his bed, cleaned it, gathered his things, and woke his friend up.

Ao, who was having a nice dream about his home and his people, was suddenly awakened by someone shaking him. Very Hard. Getting out of bed and opening his eyes, he saw the culprit for such a rude awakening.

"Milan what the heck are you doing!" he shouted, pissed at his friend for waking him up in that manner.

"Sorry, sorry, I just didn't know what else to do, you weren't waking up when I called your name and you weren't waking up when I tried to shake you gently so I thought I'd just do it harder and it seems it worked!" Milan said.

Letting out a huge sigh and shaking his head from his friend's rather unusual way of waking up somebody. Ao jokingly said. "It's alright, besides, I know I'm quite a heavy sleeper. My people used to even make a game out of it, of who's going to wake me up first!"

Laughing at his friend's joke Milan was just happy his friend wasn't angry at him and just let it go, though he was still quite embarrassed about what he did.

After gathering his items and cleaning his own bed, Ao then asks Milan if he wanted to go down for breakfast. Agreeing Milan quickly opened the door and beckoned his friend out. "Man I'm starving. I hope the food in the morning would taste as good as last night!"

Ao let out a chuckle and said. "We'll see."

When the two came down, they saw that only a few people were present in the dining hall. They quickly occupied a table near one of the walls of the inn and called for the innkeeper, who goes to them after seeing them on the table.

"What can I offer you this day fine gentlemen?" the innkeeper asked, smiling at the two.

"Just some nice ol' breakfast sir!" Milan replied

The innkeeper nodded and went to the kitchen to gather their meals.

Ao looked around and saw that a lot of people seemed to be staring at him, a bit used to such behavior, he shrugged and just turned his focus back to his human friend and saw him staring at him, his chocolate brown eyes full of worry.

"Hey if those guys bother you so much, we can just leave this place and find somewhere else to eat." He offered.

Shaking his head Ao replied. "No need, I'm quite used to this. I am a creature you humans barely see and besides I'm bound to gather attention, the odd one out you know?" gesturing to himself.

Milan was quiet after that and just looked at Ao.

Ao who saw this just looked back at his friend, the duo then began an eye to eye fight.

Moments later Milan said. "This is getting weird." and burst out laughing.

Ao couldn't help himself and burst out laughing as well. "Yeah, that really got weird.."

The two then proceeded to laugh like mad idiots.

The humans who were watching the interaction just scratched their heads and attributed the duo's mirth as just them being weird. Someone in the crowd even muttered 'weirdos'.

The innkeeper then comes out of the kitchens with the aforementioned weirdos' meals. He goes to their table and offers their food, "Here you are good sires, best morning breakfast you'd ever have!" After placing the meal on the table the innkeeper leaves the two to eat.

Their meal consisted of bread, eggs and you guessed it, more mead, though there is a cup of water alongside it.

"Alright time to dig in!" Milan exclaimed

And the two started gorging their meals, ditching the mead for some water, since it was too early to get drunk, and just enjoyed their early morning meal in general.

* * *

  
  


The sun was shining brightly, the sky was clear and the townspeople were busy with their daily lives. That was what Ao and Milan saw when they finally left the Inn. The two decided to walk around town to search for anything they might need for their journey, as it was decided that Ao would accompany Milan on his way home.

While walking down the busy streets of the market, Milan asked Ao some questions.

"So how come that you're here? I mean you guys aren't particularly known to just travel away from your lands."

Ao who was busy looking at some of the items available answered. "Well a lot of us go on adventures for many different reasons, some wish to just go away from their home and experience new things, others go on journeys to find themselves and some go on adventures to find strength, while others just don't have a choice but leave, especially when their home forest and their father tree dies!"

"Wait, father tree?" Milan asked curious about this information

"Well as you know, us Spirits aren't born in normal conditions. We came from leaves hanging from our father tree, when the time comes for us to be born our leaves fall to the ground, just like normal leaves, the only difference is that, when our leaves touch the ground we then form into beings that we are now." Ao answered.

"Do you mean that you came from leaves and when you fell to the ground you just formed into what you are now?" Milan asked again

Nodding his head, Ao said. "Yes, and we can also take any form we wish, well, some of us can but still. With that said all of us are born to different kinds of physiques! Some of us are born light and thin, while some are born bigger and thicker!"

Milan couldn't help but laugh at the last sentence. Ao smiled at his friend and added. "We can even change our gender if we like!"

Taken off guard by the statement Milan couldn't help but wonder. "Change your gender!?"

Laughing at his friend's flabbergasted face Ao answered. "Yup we can, as a species, change our gender if we want to or need to!"

Milan was so astonished to learn this fact that he suddenly stopped walking and stared at his friend. "You're joking!"

"I'm not joking I promise!" Ao answered

Milan was still doubtful. "I don't believe you! You can't just say that your species can change your gender at will. Being able to change your form is one thing!" Milan argued.

He then turned his head away from Ao and started muttering to himself.  _ 'Besides I don't want to imagine what you look like as a female.'  _ Remembering his innocent  _ 'Check my friend out moment' _ this morning.

Unbeknownst to him, Ao heard everything he said.

Ao suddenly had an idea, grinning he took his pendant off and let his light flow out from his body. Since it was morning the glow wasn't very much noticed by the pedestrians as well as Milan, he then concentrated. Moments later his entire body changed, his once fit body turned curvier and more petite, his chest grew, and his hips widened, his face became more feminine and he grew eyelashes! After the transformation Ao checked herself to make sure that she managed to transform perfectly, after she was sure that she did, she looked at her friend and, in her most sultry voice said.

"Well hello there handsome."

Milan who was still looking away muttering to himself didn't see his friend transform, he did, however, hear someone calling him. Looking at where the voice came from, he was completely astonished at what his eyes were seeing.

"What the heck!" Milan cried, jumping back from surprise.

Laughing at her friend's silliness, Ao started flaunting her new form.

Embarrass Milan could only look at his friend's current form. His once male physique has been replaced with a more feminine one. He even has boobs for crying out loud!

' _ Damn It! I shouldn't have started thinking about what Ao would look like as a female! I mean she doesn't look half bad for her species! Wait no! Bad thought! But.. she is so cute right now! .No Bad thoughts..bad thoughts! Shoo shoo, go away!!' _

Ao who was busy waiting for her friend's reaction saw his face turning red! She also saw his nose bleed out.

Laughing, she then teasingly asks. "I take it that you like it?"

Milan whose thoughts had turned blank from embarrassment heard his friend call out. Shaking his head to clear all his embarrassing thoughts and promising to never share it, like ever, he refocuses his attention to his friend and cries.

"Ao..wha..what are you doing?"

Giggling Ao answers. "Well I did say we can change our gender if we want, and as it seems that you aren't buying it, I had an idea to just show you!" she said, her voice full of mirth. "So how do you like it? I can keep this form if you want?" Ao asked mischievously.

Milan's face grew even redder after hearing this statement and he quickly answered.

"NOO!" he shouts, scaring some of the pedestrians who were walking about the road.

"Hey quiet down will ya!" says someone.

"Yeah your shouting is bad for business!" shouts another.

Feeling embarrassed from his sudden outburst Milan glares at Ao who was laughing herself off from his discomfort.

"Why did you even think that it's a good idea to just up and change your gender anyway?" he asks, still angry at his friend.

Smiling, Ao sweetly answered. "Well, I just wanted to show you that I wasn't lying and that we really could change our genders!"

Letting out a deep breath and letting his head cool off Milan looked at his friend and said.

"Damn Ao, I didn't say I didn't believe you! I was just in shock after hearing all those facts that you said! That doesn't mean I don't believe you though!" cries Milan.

Now feeling embarrassed, Ao looks at Milan and says in her cutest voice ever. "I'm sorry." Complete with round eyes and pouting lips for optimal effect!

' _ What the hell! She just turned cuter!'  _ Milan's rabid thoughts.  _ 'I shouldn't watch it, I shouldn't watch it! But how! I can't help it! She's so cute!'  _ in the end he couldn't do anything but face off his friend's menacingly cute face!

Seeing her friend embarrassed yet again, Ao decided to end this, returning her pendant to her neck canceling her powers, and with a quick light forming on her body changed to her male version.

Milan, who saw the transformation was glad that his friend finally stopped his practical joke of making him uncomfortable.  _ 'Not that I'll tell him,'  _ he thought, still embarrassed about thinking of the female Ao.

* * *

After their entertaining moment, well entertaining for Ao anyway, the duo decided to continue their task of searching for essentials for their upcoming journey. While they were searching for some needed items, like food and protection, someone in the crowd suddenly yelled.

"Hey, you!"

Hearing the commotion Milan looked at where the voice came from and saw three humans walking towards them.

The humans were all decked out in armor and are holding weapons in their hands.

"Uhmm, hey. Ao, we might have a problem." Milan told Ao, patting his friend on his shoulder to get his attention.

While this was happening. Ao was busy choosing some gears on the stand. _ 'Hmmm..what should I choose from these guys? I mean I could use some iron gauntlets for protection, but I could also really use some nice old leather boots for when I have to do some sneaking-and for my hooves as well, not just for sneaking of course. It also helps that I need to complete my armor! But I could also use the gauntlets in case I need to stop some critters from mauling me to death! Oh well, hippity hoppity choosy choosy choosy. Now what to buy.' _

Ao was so lost in figuring out what he should buy that he almost didn't notice Millan shaking him.

"Hey, buddy we really need to get out of here!"

Thankfully that seemed to work as Ao finally looked at him and said. "What?"

Pointing at the nearing humans Milan says. "That!"

Looking at where his friend was pointing and seeing three humans coming at them Ao waves his hands at them and shouted. "Hello!"

"What the heck are you doing trying to get us killed?"

Ao looked at his friend and crossed his arms. "Really? And what makes you think that they are going after us?. Maybe they just wanted to make friends?."

Milan couldn't believe what he just heard and said. "Are you nuts, look at those guys! They're all armed to the teeth! And they even have their weapons drawn! Of course, they're after us!"

"You make it sound like we're some criminals or something."

"That's not what I meant Ao! I just want us to get the hell out of here!"

Sighing Ao then looked at the approaching humans and replies to his friend

"It's alright Milan, I can handle them!"

Shaking his head and knowing that he can't force his friend otherwise. Milan just accepted their fate and waited for the approaching humans.

Which did not take so long given the fact that he and Ao were arguing for the good half of it.

Stopping in front of them the trio of burly-haired men glared at each of them. Shaking his head to stop his body from trembling Melan asks in a shaking voice. "What do you guys want?."

Instead of answering one of the burly haired men spits right at Milan's foot, sneering at him the brute cries in a bellowing voice. "I DID NOT COME HERE FOR YOU STICKMAN!" pointing out Milan's slender physique.

"What the heck do you mean?" shouts Milan angered at the jab, forgetting that he was supposed to be terrified at the brute he marches straight to the one who spat at him and belittled his body. Though before he could do anything, Ao stops him.

"You're after me then?" says Ao, pushing Milan behind him and looking straight at the burly haired man.

Milan noticed that Ao's voice seemed to have gone colder.  _ 'Ao what are you doing?'  _ he thought. Worried about his friend.

If possible the three burly haired men sneer even harder. Expanding up his chest to look more menacing the one who spat at Milan speaks. "YES, WE ARE, AND WE'RE HERE FOR YOU, FILTHY BEAST!

Raising his left eye from the mediocre insult, Ao replies. "What do you guys want?"

"YOUR SKIN YOU FILTHY ANIMAL!" shouts one of the burly haired men.

Milan became furious after hearing those words and he couldn't help but shout. "HE IS NOT AN ANIMAL OR A BEAST!"

This in turn seemed to aggravate them more. The first one who we shall call brute number 1 stepped in and told him. "SHUT UP USELESS RAG!"

"WHO YOU CALLING USELESS! I'LL SHOW YOU". Milan was so angry that he almost jumped straight at the man and punched him in the face. Almost, because before he could, Ao stopped him. Again.

But this time Ao seems to glow with anger.

"You can call me names all you want, I won't mind. But when you start calling my friend demeaning names? Then that's not going to be fine in my book!" says Ao, anger blazing in his Sky blue eyes.

Laughing brute number 2 answered him. "SO IT SEEMS THE BEAST DOES FEEL!"

"IT SEEM IT DOES!" laughs brute number 3. Making faces at Ao.

"ENOUGH!" brute number 1 said, the leader of the group, he then pointed at Ao and declared.

"TODAY, WE WILL CLEANSE THIS PLACE FROM YOUR FILTH! MONSTER!"

"I said he's not a--" before Milan could finish, Ao stopped him. Looking at his friend he saw him smiling at him before giving him a wink. "It's alright bud, I got this!" Ao said cheerfully.

Looking at the three burly haired men. Ao calmly replied. "Well then, I would guess that you wish to fight me?"

Puffing his nose brute number 1 replied. "YES, AND THEN WE WILL CRUSH YOU! AND SKIN YOU!"

Laughing at the man, Ao could only shake his head and tell them. "You guys are heavily armed and full of yourself, yet your brains are all empty." He taunted mockingly.

Brute number 2 turned a new shade of red from anger and shouted. "WE'LL SHOW YOU BEAST!"

Looking around Ao saw that most of the townsfolk have already fled the area, he even saw some of them hiding inside buildings, peeking with their eyes and watching with bated breaths. Looking at Milan and seeing his friend's concerned gaze Ao shakes his head and whispers. "Don't worry, as I said. I got this." He then nods at one of the stands and says "Hide in there".

Following the instructions, while still giving his friend a concerned look Milan went to hide in one of the stands indicated by Ao.

Ao, after seeing his friend safe from danger looked at the three brutes and says,

"This place is quite huge don't you think? I mean we can do battle here if you want." gesturing to the whole place. Which was indeed large enough for them to fight.

Grinning maliciously, brute number 1 shouted. "YES...IT IS" and attacked. Aiming his ax towards Ao, his buddies weren't far behind brute number 2 aimed his sword towards Ao's chest taking a swipe to his left, while brute number 3 threw his shield to blindside him.

Ao, who saw all of them attack at once, deciding to test his skill against these brutes he quickly took his pendant off and dodge their attacks. Barely dodging the shield.

Seeing their target move to evade, brute number 1 ran to his left and took point, before running towards Ao, his ax at the ready. Brute number 2 went straight aiming his sword again towards Ao's head trying to spear him through, while brute number 3 ran in Ao's direction, his mace swinging madly.

Milan was scared, his friend was fighting all of these brutes all at once and alone and he can't even help! Now his friend is being attacked by all three of them! _ 'Ao, please, please, whatever that you did last night, the fight, please don't let these guys hurt you! Fight back, buddy!' _

"Fight Ao!"

Hearing the voice of his friend and feeling his fear and his wish for him to fight. Ao smiles. Using his small and light figure he dashes around his enemies blocking a strike from brute number 1 using his hand while simultaneously kicking brute number 2's sword away from him. He then uses that momentum to swing around brute number 1 and sucker punch him in the face and then jumps and kicks him on his chin knocking the poor bastard down. While in the air Ao summoned a light spear, now that his pendant is off he can now use his light powers in the fight and aimed at brute number 3 who was taken aback by the seemingly easy way Ao took down his friends, seeing the spear forming, brute number 3 could only look before Ao released a massive spear made of light! Striking brute number 3 head-on and knocking him straight into a building, his body fell to the ground, unconscious.

Brute number 1 who saw all this happened roared and started attacking Ao, using his ax he twirled and twisted trying to hit the swift guardian. At no effect. Ao managed to dodge all his attacks and used his enemy's trust against him. By letting him miss all together he managed to make brute number 1 tired from all his attacks. Seeing his chance Ao summoned a light sword and in one swing cut down the brute's weapon in half, without letting off Ao whirled and started hacking and slashing at his enemy.

The brute was forced to retreat after the continuous blow that he had. Catching his breath, brute number 1 shouted.

"WHAT! BUT HOW! HOW ARE YOU SO STRONG! YOUR NOTHING COMPARED TO ME! HOW IS IT THAT YOU MANAGED TO BEAT ME WHILE NEVER GETTING HIT BY MY ATTACKS! HOW! TELL ME!"

Laughing, Ao replied. "Because you underestimate my abilities!"

Brute number 2 who saw all of this happen took his chance and tried to slash Ao who was facing away from him, thinking that because Ao was busy talking to his buddy that he wouldn't notice the attack.

Only, Ao did notice the attack and waited for the strike to come. When it did, he sidesteps to the left and using his right hand, sucker punches the brute to his head, not satisfied he added a double kick to the chin and squeezed the sucker's hand that was holding his weapon with his tail making the brute drop his weapon from the pain and the lack of blood.

"AAAHHHHH" Cries brute number 2 his left arm burning with pain.

"I bet you guys' are wishing that you haven't made fun of my friend now are you!" taunts Ao seeing his opponents' wreathing in pain.

He then decides to finish off brute number 2 by forming a mace made of light in his hands and bashing the sucker away. And knocks him immediately unconscious.

Looking at the remaining sucker, Ao shouts.

"Is that all you guys got? And here I was thinking that you could give me a challenge!" taunts Ao.

Seeing his friends utterly decimated by what he calls a filthy beast and hearing it mocking him, brute number 1 was filled with seething hatred, he took his fallen ax and squeezed what was still left of the handle, hard. He then stood up and with a powerful warcry ran towards Ao.

Looking at his opponent's assault, Ao let out a smile and stood his ground waiting for the brute to come closer.  _ 'Just a little bit closer now!'  _ when the brute was near enough Ao started running towards him.

Seeing his enemy running towards him brute number 1 grinned and in one swing unleashed one massive strike towards Ao.

"DIE!"

Ao saw this strike and in the last moments used his speed and…..vanished!

Seeing his enemy vanish before his eyes, the brute was left speechless. Looking wildly and searching for his enemy he didn't see anything, no trace nor hair was to be found.

Milan who was so enraptured by the fight also saw his friend suddenly vanish.  _ 'Ao just glowed and just vanished completely? How? And where is he anyway?'  _ he then, in a bad move, stood up and started searching for his friend.

The brute who was still busy searching for his enemy and with his anger mounting by every moment suddenly saw Milan standing, letting a huge malicious grin, the brute then started walking towards him.

Milan who was trying to spot his friend heard someone approaching, when he turned his head around he saw, in his horror, the brute approaching him.  _ 'But how, I'm hiding-'  _ eyes growing wide, he finally noticed that he wasn't hiding anymore and was instead out in the open. _ 'I..I..went out of hiding to try and find Ao..and..the brute...Oh no!' _ He tried to run away but his feet seemed to have turned into jelly!

"NO. PLEASE STOP!" Milan cried, begging for the brute to stop.

The brute was only even more spurred by Milan's begging for mercy and walked faster to get him. When he was near enough the brute reached for Milan's neck and hoisted him up in the air, squeezing hard.

"PLEASE!" Milan felt his throat hurt from the brute's grasp, opening his eyes, which he had closed when the brute reached him, glared at the brute and in defiance turned his face upward. He then sees something up in the sky.

Sneering at him the brute then says.

"WE'LL SINCE YOUR FRIEND HAS COWARDLY LEFT YOU. I WILL JUST TAKE MY REVENGE ON YOU AND ENJOY EVERY MOMENT OF IT, WHILE I CRASH YOUR PUNY BODY!"

Milan would have shaken with so much fear after hearing those words. But he was busy looking at the sky. Seeing something he couldn't believe.

Seeing this made the brute even angrier when he thought Milan wasn't listening to him.

"HEY I'M TALKING TO YOU FOOL!" shouts the brute, shaking Milan and almost choking him to death.

He was even more surprised when Milan started hoarsely laughing and simply said. "Lookup"

Curious and a little furious about being told to look up, the brute followed Milan's gaze and looked up. Only wishing afterward that he hadn't. For up in the sky looking at him with eyes burning with fire, was a Dragon!

The brute was so stunned that he suddenly let go of Milan who quickly took a deep breath and ran away from danger hiding back from where he had hidden during the battle.

Seeing this, the Dragon quickly went to attack. Seemingly vanishing from the sky only to reappear by the brute's side. Using its tail it swatted the brute like one would on a fly. The hit was so powerful that the brute was thrown far away and even managed to go through a wall when he hit it. Suffice to say he was definitely down for the count.

Milan who was peeking from his hiding-place saw all of this and was stunned.  _ 'That was one powerful blow! And to think the dragon just flicked its tail!'  _ he thought. And then took a chance to study the creature in front of him. The dragon was unlike any dragon he has ever heard of, instead of a bat-like appearance like what he has been told, the dragon was serpentine! It wasn't overly big just enough that you can say that it was huge. Its fur, yes fur not scale, was white and it was seemingly glowing. It had some sharp horns on its head and its eyes were glowing with blue fire!

It's eyes that are currently looking at him.

Gulping Milan stood up, seeing that he was already caught he put his hands in the air and cried. "I'm not one of them!"

Laughing, the dragon, with what seems to be humor painting it's glowing eyes, says.

"Of course you're not one of them, you're my friend!" the dragon answers in a familiar voice.

"Wait a minute, that voice! Is that..are you.." eyes widening, Milan then remembered something Ao told him recently.

' _ Some of us are even capable of changing our forms! Well not all of us but still!'. _

Finally putting the pieces together Milan looked at the dragon and shouted.

"AO?! "

* * *

  
  


**Finished! I hope you guys had a good time reading this one! As I had to have a good time writing it!**

**Ori And The Blind Forest/Ori And The Will Of The Wisps Belong to Moon Studios and Microsoft Studios**

**This story belongs to me.**

**Editor sis here y’all! Lezgetthispartystarted**

**“shaking him. Very Hard.”--author bro, novel**

**Me:... mhhm kinky[ ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)](https://www.lennyfaces.net/)**


	3. Unfolding Shadows

**As you guys can see, I recently updated all the chapters, because I now have an editor. I’m pretty sure you already know that since, she did put her comments on the first two chapters**

**So on without further adieu! On with the story!**

**Line break signify a scene change**

**"Talking"**

**_'Thinking'_ **

**Edit: Edited some mistakes written concerning Arcturus's rank.**

* * *

It was the smell of medicine and the constant sound of breathing that awakened Ao in his slumber. When he opened his eyes he saw that he was in a hospital bed. At first, he was curious about how he managed to get there. But when he looked to his left and saw his friend, Milan, who was asleep while sitting on a chair beside his bed, his memory from before returned.

“Of course, I was battling a group of airheaded blokes!” he said, “But how did I get here?” he asked, still curious about how he was in a hospital.

"I can answer that for you!" answered Milan, who was now awake, he looked at Ao and said. "You got unconscious after your battle with those brutes during the time that you're still in your dragon form!" and added. "By the way, that form impressed me!"

Chuckling Ao smiled at Milan and replied. "Well, at least I showed them not to bully others!"

Milan smiles at Ao’s reply and nodded his head, the event still fresh from his mind.

"Of course after you fell unconscious I have to be the one to explain to the townspeople and the guards what happened! So you can thank me for that! Mister, I can turn into a dragon!" Milan said, quoting the last six words he spoke, telling how he pacified the entire town after Ao fell unconscious.

"Thanks then, I don't want to think what would have happened otherwise if you had not told the people and the guards of the reason behind that fight. Besides, I don't think the guards would be very much happy to see a dragon trashing the place," Ao said, laughing after thinking of the possibilities that may have happened if his friend had not told the story behind the fight.

"You bet your ass they weren't happy, though, they did let us off after they saw who you just beat. Hear this! Apparently, those idiots that you just fought are criminals and are running from the law! They were known to be a huge pain in the ass in this town and are usually found discriminating and attacking innocent people. They only manage to get away with this because they were pretty much gone before the guards could even apprehend them, and if ever a guard does find them first, they usually end up in a fight, and, well I'll let you guess what happens next." Milan said, telling Ao the story about the brutes that he had just fought.

“Wow, so I guess I gave those guys a beating they deserve! And the town could be happy about that!” Ao replied, laughing at what his friend just told him.

“Yup you pretty much did bud! And the town is happy that those guys are gone, and they are thankful for your help as well!” Milan cried, happy to tell his friend of the town’s gratitude.

“Really?” Ao asked, astonished on hearing those words.

"Yup, they even gave you an honorary title, 'The Hero of Anima', you're quite the superstar now actually, since most of the people who saw you fight those guys were store owners and are bound to talk a lot, and seeing you transform into a dragon is just icing on the cake for them! By noon, all of the townspeople have heard of your heroic deed in putting those guys into justice." Milan answered, revealing Ao's newly given title and his current popularity towards the townspeople.

After hearing this, Ao shook his head and said. "Huh, that's a first for me, being hailed as a hero," he revealed.

“Really? But you're a Spirit Guardian, aren’t you bound to encounter this kind of fight during your trip before we have met?” Milan inquired.

Shaking his head Ao answered. "Nope, as far as I'm concerned, I have not ever encountered those kinds of people during my travels before I met you, they are the first to show hatred against me!"

"Huh, so I guess this just happened as a coincidence, or fate just has a weird sense of humor? I mean you just fought a howler last night saving me from it and then this morning you fought three brainless idiots who think that they can just get away with their crimes because of their inflated egos and saving the town from them." Milan said to Ao who was laughing at him after calling the three brutes _‘brainless idiots’._

Laughing, Ao replied. "Yeah, I guess it is quite a coincidence that I happen to save you from a howler and this town from those guys. And it happened in only one day too!"

"So what time is it?" Ao inquired, curious about the current time and how long he has been asleep.

"You just asked this now?" Milan said jokingly, "Well it's 12:00 at noon if the wall clock is right." he added while pointing towards a wall clock hanging above Ao's head.

Blushing for not spotting the clock earlier, Ao nodded and asked. “Am I allowed to leave or, should I wait for the doctor to come?”

"Thankfully we are allowed to check out, the doctor did say that you were only unconscious due to overexertion," answers Milan. "The doctor still needs to do some tests but we're on the clear afterward," he added.

Ao nodded his head after hearing this, agreeing about the test.

"Well there's nothing we can do but wait I guess," Ao said.

Thankfully they didn’t have to wait for long as the doctor came in moments later.

“Ah I see our patient is finally awake!” cried the doctor.

Offering his hand towards Ao he then said. “My name is Dr.Brulhart.”

Shaking the offered hand Ao then replied. “It’s nice to meet you Dr.Brulhart.”

Dr.Brulhart then performed his normal procedures to determine whether Ao could leave or if he still needed to stay.

"Alright, let's see," Dr.Brulhart said while pointing a light at Ao's eyes.

"Your eyes are fine as it looks." the doctor said, “now say ‘Ah’” he instructed, Ao did as instructed and opened his mouth wide, “nothing wrong here either, just some small sharp pointy fangs” Dr. Brulhart teasingly said, he then took his stethoscope which was hanging from his neck, and put it on Ao's chest, and listened to his heartbeats.

"Heartbeats are normal, well normal for you species anyway," said Dr.Brulhart jokingly.

Laughing from the joke Milan watched as the doctor continued his examination.

Dr.Brulhart took a small mallet from his pocket and started knocking Ao's kneecaps. Ao, let out a yelp when he felt his kneecap getting hit and involuntarily kicked his feet.

“Good muscle reaction.” the doctor praised.

Dr.Brulhart then took his paper and after a few moments, declared that Ao was good to go.

"Congratulations Ao, nothing seems out of the ordinary and you are free to go, though I suggest not to participate in further battles to help you recover," said Dr.Brulhart congratulating Ao.

"I'll keep that in mind doctor," Ao said, chuckling at the good doctor's instructions.

"Well with all that done, I shall bid the two of you goodbye," the good doctor said, bowing towards Milan and Ao, and then he left the room to take care of his other patients.

“What a nice doctor” commented Milan when Dr.Brulhart was gone.

“You can say that again, he’s quite a funny one too!” Ao replied.

The duo then proceeded downstairs after they took their items. While on the way down, Ao noted the architecture around him, the hospital, like many like it, sports white walls and clean and orderly rooms, though the smell of medicine is permeating the air. The place is well lit through the clear windows that let in the natural brightness of the sun.

* * *

When the two finally managed to reach downstairs, they quickly went towards the counter to check out and pay the bills, while on their way they started hearing commotions nearby, curious, they decided to see what it was.

“Sir! We need to make sure you're fine please stay put!” a nurse shouted.

“I’m fine! I don’t need help!” shouted a man.

When Ao and Milan finally turned to a corner and arrived at the entrance, and where the commotion was, they saw a man clutching his stomach while nurses were all around him trying to get him lay down in a stretcher.

"Please sir, your wounds will bleed you out!" one of the nurses said, persistently trying her best to move the man in the stretchers.

Before the man could answer, he saw Ao and Milan walk out of the corner, when he saw Ao he became furious and started shouting. "You… you! Murderer! You will not get away with this! You will pay for your crimes! I will make..sur….!" The man was so furious that before he could finish his rant he blacked out from anger and blood loss.

Ao was taken aback by the man's accusations. ' _What..what does he mean murderer? I haven't killed anybody!'_ he thought, reeling from the false accusations.

Milan was also shocked by the man's false accusations as well and says. "Where in the world did he get those accusations from? I mean you haven't murdered a person, have you?" he asked.

Ao shook his head and replied. "No, I haven't, like I said saving you from the howler as well as saving the town from those brutes are the first and second times I fought!"

Milan believed his friend and looked at the man, who was now being taken by the nurse towards the emergency room to be given medical care.

"We should follow and see what he means about what he said," Ao told Milan.

"Wait, are you serious about that?" Milan asked, surprised to hear his friend’s proposition.

Ao nodded his head. “Yes I Am” he looked at Milan and said, “So you in or not?”

Milan replies with a smile. "Of course I'm in, I want to know why he accused you of those crimes as well as you do!"

Agreeing the duo then march towards the emergency room. But before they could even go halfway they stopped when someone called them. Looking back to the one who shouted they saw a guard clad in steel armor approaching them.

“No need to follow that man to get your questions answered. I can answer them for you.” the guard said.

“Really?” Milan asked the guard.

Nodding his head the guard then told them his name. “My name is Arcturus Gorne, I’m the captain of the guards in this town.”

“Nice to meet you sir.” the two replied.

“Before you ask your question, let me make an apology for what the man said towards you Mister Ao, he is stressed and wounded and bound to accuse people of crimes they didn’t commit.” Captain Arcturus said towards Ao.

Ao nodded his head and accepted the apology, “I understand sir.” he said.

“What do you mean you can tell us about why the man was shouting false accusations towards my friend?” asks Milan, curious for the answer.

The Captain looked at Milan then at Ao and answered. "Because what the man said has some truth in it," he revealed.

“What? What do you mean?” Milan, astounded by the revelation asked the Captain.

"You see he came from the village of Costas, not far from here, the Village had been constantly terrorized by an unknown being ever since last month, at first people said that the only thing this unknown being does is only leaving scratch marks and broken posts around the town during the night, at first I thought it was just a trickster doing a naughty prank at night, so I dispatched a group of guards on the place to guard it and arrest the perpetrator. The next day my men reported that they saw nothing out of the ordinary during their shift, chalking it out as just some trickster’s prank going out of control, I told the villagers that they can rest easy." told the captain, then he looked at Ao and continued.

“But then one night after a week, while the villagers were asleep, a group of my guards saw a creature they described as “So dark it seems to devour every light around the area” they tried to call it, but it didn’t answer them, instead if left, but not without killing two of my men, according to the three survivors it was just so fast that one moment, their companions were standing alive with them, and the next, they were down on the ground, dead.” this time Captain Arcturus looked at Milan and said in a rough voice.

"It didn't end there, every three nights afterward I would get news about missing people in the village, someone even claimed that the beast devoured one villager whole! The situation was so dire that I called an entire brigade to guard the area, at no effect, the beast still managed to abduct three more people!" he then looked back at Ao and said.

“Last night two more people got abducted, and I fear the worse, the villagers are getting scared and they are saying they will leave the village, if the village becomes deserted, the fishing exports of the town will crash if we don’t find a solution to the problem! We needed help, and fast!” this time the captain showed a smile, “Imagine my surprise when I woke up this morning to hear that a Spirit Guardian is currently in town, and then I heard that he fought and defeated the Larson Brothers who have been terrorizing this place! That’s when I knew that I needed your help, Hero.” reveals the captain.

Ao who was listening aptly towards Captain Arcturus nodded his head and inquired. “The beast, what is it?”

Captain Arcturus replied. “We do not know, but we believe it's some kind of howler living near the area, the claw marks left on the buildings are made of one, and only a howler could devour a person whole.”

Nodding his head, Ao asked. “How can I help?”

Smiling, Captain Arcturus then said, "Simple, find this beast, and kill it, as well as saving those abducted villagers if they are still alive, hopefully."

Milan looked at his friend and saw his eyes, a flame of righteousness sparked on Ao’s eyes, letting out a smile Milan then turned his head towards the captain and said. “We’re in.”

Captain Arcturus released a deep breath and smiled at the two, he then told them to follow him towards the barracks so that he could prepare them for their hunt.

Following the captain, the duo started walking towards the barracks. Ao looked at his friend and said. "Thanks for sticking up with me man!"

Chuckling Milan answered. “No problem buddy, we’re in this together you know!”

Shaking his head Ao answered. “Are you sure? This thing could be far more dangerous than the howler or those brutes.”

“It’s alright, this time I can prepare! I can make potions remember? I know a concoction, one or two, that can help in this hunt!” says Milan. Looking at his friend and smiling, “Besides, two minds are better than one as they say.”

Ao didn't answer Milan, he just smiled at him and the two walked silently towards the barracks.

When they arrived they saw that a few guards were looking at them, some were whispering with each other, someone was even looking at them with admiration, well they were looking at Ao really.

“Uhm, why are they looking at me like that?” asked Ao, blushing from all the attention he is getting.

Laughing from Ao’s embarrassment Captain Arcturus replied. “Because you are a hero kid! Saving a person from a howler and then putting those brutes into justice! You're bound to get the admiration of the people you know!”

“I just did what any other person would do sir” Ao replied.

“Yes you did, but not all people have the guts and skills to do it!” Captain Arcturus answered, he looked at Ao and with a smile told him. “Besides, I know a good person when I see one, and you Ao is definitely a good person.”

Blushing from the complement Ao couldn’t do nothing but nod his head, he then made eye contact with the captain and said. “Thanks Captain.”

* * *

Afterwards the two found themselves on the road towards the Village of Costa, they were going there to ask for more information about the creature. 

As they walked towards the village, Milan was busy admiring the landscape, he saw many different kinds of trees, herbs and the occasional animal or two. He was even having fun listing all the animals he saw in his newly bought notebook. Ao noticed this and asked.

“Say, why are you noting down all the animals we just encountered?” Ao asked, curious why his friend was listing all the animals he saw.

“Well, I like seeing animals in their natural habitats and since this is the first time that I actually saw them in the wild, I like to record the experience thus the notebook that I bought.” Milan explained.

“Wait first time? But I met you in a forest? And you said you were gathering some ingredients for your potion!” Ao inquired. 

Scratching his head with embarrassment Milan answered Ao’s question. “Well, that was actually my first time outside my village!”

Ao was astonished to hear this and said. “Your first time? Is that why you 're so amazed by all the flora and fauna found there in the forest that you forgot about the time and the direction where you came from?”

Blushing Milan answered. “Um, yes.”

Looking at his embarrassed friend Ao couldn't help but laugh out loud. Giggling madly he then asked his friend we’re his home was.

Milan who was still red from embarrassment answered, “Well I live in a village east from here! Though I kinda don’t know how far, since, I did get lost in the dark forest.”

“So is that why you asked me for help to get you home this morning?” Ao asked, remembering Milan’s request about accompanying him home.

“Yes” Milan answered.

“So this really is your first time, well second time, outside your village?” Ao inquired.

“Yes” Milan answered.

“Why?” Ao questioned.

Putting his notebook away, Milan then looked up, eyes wandering through the canopy of the trees, he answered. “Well, I grew up in a family of four, my parents are known potion makers back in my village so we were quite well off in terms of money, so I grew up in relative comfort. When I turned 13 my father taught me and my siblings how to brew, at first we did it for fun, but then years passed my parents stopped brewing and decided to give us the apothecary, my siblings didn’t like it, they thought that our parents were forcing us to do their job, and they left. Everyone of them left, it was just me and my parents.” Milan told Ao. 

“So is that the reason why you never had a chance to explore outside your village?” Ao asked.

“Yes, after my siblings left my parents became terminally ill, due to their old age. I started looking at healing potions as well as potions that could help revitalize their failing stamina, but it was too late. One day when I came home after buying ingredients from town, I went straight into my parents bedroom, only to find that they had both passed away while I was gone.” Milan said, eyes filled with tears.

Ao rubbed his paws on Milan’s back trying to ease his friend from his sadness.

“What of your siblings?” Ao silently inquired, saddened by hearing his friend’s parents demise.

Milan became angry when he heard those questions and answered. “I don’t know, and I-don’t-care!” 

Taking Milan’s hands and clutching it with his paws Ao said. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”

Feeling his friend's comforting gesture, Milan let out a deep breath and made eye contact with Ao. “It’s okay, I understand.” he said smiling.

Milan then continued his story. “I was left alone ever since. I took it to myself to carry on the family business, for my parents you know, and I have been manning the store for four years now!” he said, “And that is the reason why I never got to experience any adventure before we met, I was actually quite alright with being the village potion maker too. Never wishing for any kind adventure.” Milan then smiled. “Only if I knew what would happen.” 

“What happened?” Ao asked, curious.

Milan simply answered. “Meeting you of course!” he said smiling at Ao.

Laughing, Ao answered back, “I see, well I’m glad I met you as well Milan.”

“And I am glad as well buddy.” Milan replied.

The two then proceeded to the village in a comfortable silence, only broken by the sounds of trees and wildlife.

* * *

When the two finally arrived they saw the village in needs of repair, the houses were destroyed, the general atmosphere of the village seems bad and unwelcoming, the people were all dressed in rags and the fishing boats were all cracked and destroyed by an unknown being, it seems the Captain under stated the problem, since it seems worse that what he have told them.

“Woah, this place is in shambles!” Cried Milan, he was shocked to see the village in this dire state.

“Yeah, and here I thought this was going to be easy.” Ao said, agreeing to his friend’s statement.

“Easy? Buddy we’re literally up against a creature that has abducted villagers and killed people. Not to mention that it seems to be powerful too!” Milan told Ao, telling him how not easy their mission was.

“Yeah well, I was sure that we could have handled that easily and saved those people.” Ao retorted back to his friend.

Before they could start arguing however, a villager suddenly came up to them and started shouting.

“MONSTER! GET OUT OF HERE!” he shouted.

“What the!” Ao exclaimed, jolting from surprise. 

A villager then started throwing stones at him. While shouting for him to get away.

“Please! We came here to help!” Ao shouted, covering himself from the stones thrown at him.

Milan tried to help his friend but he was also showered with stones. 

And the two suddenly found themselves encircled by angry villagers who are throwing stones and other hard materials at them.

“Ouch, please stop, where only here to help!” Milan shouted after he was hit by a stone on the head.

“LIAR! YOU’RE WITH HIM! YOU’RE A MONSTER AS WELL!” a woman shouted and threw a pan towards Milan.

While this was happening, Ao was getting angrier by the moment. “We only came here to help! Why are you angry at us, why are you throwing stones!” he shouted, shielding himself from the stones being thrown at him. Then he saw Milan getting his face hit by a pan, that was when his anger finally blew. Ao quickly took his pendant off and with a shout, unleashed an explosion of blinding light, taking the villagers off guard and making them shield themselves in front of the light. He then took Milan’s hand with his paws and started running away from the village.

When they finally got away, the duo found themselves furious about the villagers' treatment towards them.

“We only came to help them! Why did they start throwing stones at us!” Milan said angrily.

Milan was cursing a storm, he was currently nursing a bleeding eyebrow. ‘ _Damn, one of those guys got lucky with a throw.’_ he thought. He then looked at Ao and asked. “Where were the guards anyway? I thought the captain said that he posted some of his men in the village?”

“Hell if I know, I didn’t see any guards in the village when we came in.” Ao replied, still pissed about the villagers' treatment towards them both.

“Can you believe that! Why did they think it's alright to just throw stones and pans at us anyway?” Milan asked.

“I don’t know Milan, but this is the second time someone called me a monster.” Ao replied, remembering the man they saw in the hospital.

 _‘Murderer!’_ the words echoed in Ao’s thoughts once more, was the man really delusional from all the attacks? Or is there something more… peculiar as to why he accused him of killing people? Ao pondered on and after a while, ‘maybe we should ask more details about this..’ before he was able to speak out his thoughts Milan suddenly called out for him in a distance, and beside him were the guards they were looking for earlier.

“Come quick, these are the guards the captain sent to the village!” Milan shouted Ao nodded and ran towards the small camp in the woods just outside of the town, there were a total of five men around, two were sitting beside the fire pit throwing sticks and twigs to keep the fire going,one was standing guard while one was leaning on a dead tree trunk, although he seemed more roguish that of a guard, and the fifth guard was the one standing beside Milan and Ao.

“We’re sorry we weren’t able to welcome you from the village” the guard apologetically sighed, Milan and Ao shook their heads and reassured him that it was fine.

“You must be shocked by the villagers' temperament… come sit by the fire, me and my men will explain the situation further” the guard ushered them into the camp, the guards greeted them with a bow however, the atmosphere was more than enough to see that the guards were in deep trouble.

“What… exactly happened here?” Milan asked, looking at the tired and defeated faces of the guards 

“Young lad… and you brave guardian… what happened here, is something that us mere guards thought we could handle, but… we were wrong, very wrong” the guard stoking the fire spoke almost to a whimper. Ao can clearly sense the distraught in the man’s words and he couldn’t help but utter the question spiraling on his mind

“Where are the others?” Ao spoke, Milan and the others were shocked but their faces then showed a grim response, the rogue, now sitting in the stump looking directly at Ao answered him.

“Gone” his answer was cold and his eyes were piercing daggers to Ao, Milan noticed this and scoffed, whispering to Ao not to mind the man’s bad behavior.

“We were on patrol last night, it was quiet and peaceful, but then the horror came to hunt us” the guard continued, “there were a total of twelve people in our group, three were left in the camp to guard, while the rest went out to venture, I was the leader of the group who ventured outside, and the leader of our group as well as that boy over there and the other guard guarding the camp right now were the three people who were left behind…” He sighed, the other guard helping him stoke the fire was silent the whole time, but at this moment, a feminine voice came out from the steel clad armor, it was a female guard.

“The two of us, Me and the guard just in front of you, were the only two who survived from the attack” she spoke, gripping a twig from her hand and breaking it forcefully “that monster got the best of us!” she growled

Ao and Milan sat there by the fire, their faces dark and grim, they never thought that the enemy would be strong enough to almost wipe out a group of brigadiers, and worse, it left no trace of the missing people’s whereabouts almost as if they vanished out of existence in the darkness. The rogue man stood up and walked towards where Ao sat, he looked down on him, his eyes burning with anger. Milan couldn’t take the man’s behavior anymore and stood up shielding Ao from his glares.

“What is wrong with you?!” Milan asked, the man scoffed and rolled his eyes, he then sat down, joining the group around the fire pit.

“What’s wrong with me? Well, you should ask that beast you're shielding what’s wrong with him!” He exclaimed, taken aback, Milan was furious about hearing those words come from the man’s mouth.

“You think my buddy over here made all this mess?!” Milan shouted.

“More or less, He IS the one who made all this mess!” the man angrily retorted

‘Oh yeah? Well prove it then!” 

“Hah, I’ll prove it all right after you stop shielding him!”

The two were gritting their teeths and ready to throw their fists to each other when the Leader of the Guards stood in between them, effectively stopping the looming brawl.

“This is not the time to fight! Captain Arcturus brought these two lads here to help and it is our duty to tell them all the information we know. We should focus on catching this beast first rather than blaming who made this mess” His words were stern, strong enough to put Milan and the rogue to their senses and relax. Ao looked at the Man who just accused him for this mess.

“Why did you think it was me?” Ao asked

The man looked at Ao’s eyes and after a long pause, he answered

“Although I was left behind in the camp, as a Rogue I had the duty to survey the surroundings, so I went on the highest tree branch around the camp’s premise to scout, and as I was scouting, I saw a silhouette, although almost all of its body was devoured by the night’s darkness, I will never forget those demonic eyes burning with lust for meat and blood!”

“Eyes?” Ao asked, the man nodded, and once more his face turned dark.

“Your eyes resemble the devil’s eyes” he spoke.

Milan stood up once more, ready to shout at the man’s threat but Ao stopped him

“You mean to say that you accused me because my eyes were the same as the culprit’s?” Ao inquired once more.

The man simply nodded, with this Ao had a hint as to why the villagers back then were accusing him, as well as the old man in the hospital, but, is it really only the eyes that resemble his? Ao was about to probe deeper when the Guard on duty suddenly called out to them. The culprit was on the move!

The group quickly rose up to their feet and ran towards the direction that the guard pointed out, the trees and bushes rustled quickly and the groups eyes were fixated on a figure, although the night’s darkness shrouded the beast’s full figure, red streaks of light would glow every now and then. After running for some miles, the figure suddenly stopped in a tree branch, the group also stopped at their track. 

The cold night wind breezed and the leaves rustled gently, at the tree branch the figure was slowly illuminated by the moonlight, its fur black as ebony, claws covered in blood, pieces of shredded fabric drooped down on its tail, and its ears were pointed up to the night sky. Ao stood there staring at the figure, his blood ran cold, and his body shivered, Milan was also speechless of the beast’s form, making his knees weak Milan couldn’t even dare to stand up. As the beast slowly turned towards them, showing its Deadly Crimson Gleaming eyes, Ao couldn’t believe his eyes. He finally understood why the villagers accused him, why the elder man feared him, and why the rogue disliked him. The beast wasn’t a howler, but instead, it was a complete replica of Ao. It was a Spirit Guardian.

* * *

**Author’s note**

**What would happen if a happy, sugary sweet creature gets infected by a dark bug!? Do you? Me neither. Anyways I hope that you had fun reading this chapter. And stay tuned for more.**

**Ori And The Blind Forest/Ori And The Will Of The Wisps Belong to Moon Studios and Microsoft Studios**

**This story Belongs to me.**

**Editor Sis Moment OUO)///////**

**“Imma make this scene scawy” sis**

**“Erm… it's supposed to be gore…” author bro**

***inhales* “SCAWWYYYYYY” sis**

**Author bro (-_____-’)**


	4. Oriuntur Tenebrae

**HEY! GUYS New update! This one is a chore to do and I have no idea whether you guys are going to love it or not. I did try my best so I hope that helps.**

**Anyways on with the Chapter!**

**Line signifies scene change**

**"Talking"**

**_'Thinking'_ **

* * *

“What is that?” Milan asks his friend, uncertain whether to believe his eyes right now. 

"I... I don't know." Ao replied, his mind not comprehending what he was seeing. 

If you've told Ao this morning that he was going to be facing a creature of decay that resembles a spirit guardian, he'd sucker punch you straight to the sky and transform into his dragon form and burn you into a crisp just to be sure. Yeah a bit wild, but nobody tells a spirit guardian bad things about his people, that's a one-way ticket to a major beating! But now, well Ao would rather have people tell him this than see it for himself. 

Looking at the creature, it was, in a sense, a spirit guardian in all but color. The body, the head with those long ears, those hooves, even the tail are spot on spirit guardians! The only thing that is different is the color of its fur which is all black, and its eyes that are seemingly full of malice. 

The guards who were still pretty much shocked by this discovery voiced their reaction. “Guardian, what do you know of this?” asked the female guard. 

Ao heard the question but it was Milan who answered it. “Didn’t you hear him tell me that he doesn’t have an idea what this creature is?” he said, pointing at the creature who was now intrigued by them. 

The creature was curious, what does this group of animals want? Do they not know that they are currently in front of their predator? Or do they wish for it to prey upon them? It’s mind we're filled with many thoughts like this, slowly trying to discern why these animals have followed it into the forest. It was busy thinking of the many reasons why, that the creature almost didn’t hear one of the animals calling. 

"Hey! Black dude! I'm talking to you!" shouts Milan, trying to get the creature's attention. 

It worked and the creature looked at him, ire evident in its red eyes, it turned its head like that of an owl and said, in a deep and scratching voice. "What do you want? Pests." 

The group was shocked to hear the creature talk, Milan was shocked and angry at being called a pest, and Ao, was more shocked than the rest. It really sounded like a spirit guardian! 

“What are you?” Ao asked, he couldn’t help it, his curiosity got the better of him.

The creature heard the question looking at the weird animal that is standing along the human pid that shouted at it. “Why would I answer a question from a lowly animal like you?”

Before Ao could answer Milan shouted "Hey were not some pest and some lowly animals!" angry at the creature for calling himself and now his friend names.

The creature laughed at this and shouted. "Idiotic human-pig! Do you not know what I am? What I'm capable of doing to you and your worthless pet!" It said, eyes glowing red with malice. 

The guards were offended by the creature announcing them as an idiotic pigs. One of the guards in his anger couldn't help but launch an arrow towards the creature. 

The creature saw this and smiled,  _ 'useless' _ it thought, and before the arrow could hit its chest, it caught it mid-air with its right hand. 

Ao was surprised not by the easy way the creature managed to catch the flying arrow, but by the guard who shot it. “What the hell are you doing?!” he shouted, angrily looking at the guard. “Are you trying to instigate an unnecessary fight?” he added, angry at the guard's seemingly not regarding the other's safety for his petty anger. 

The guard was shocked when the creature effortlessly caught the arrow then he became furious when the other spirit guardian shouted at him. Coming closer to Ao the guard pointed a finger at him and shouted. "And what do you know? Freak!" He said, standing right in front of Ao poking him on his chest trying to start a fight, "Or are you too scared to fight?" he taunted. 

"Hey enough of this!" shouts the lieutenant, separating the two and quickly putting himself in the middle. "We don't need to fight each other, not while we still have this devil in front of us!" He said, pointing at the creature who was still standing in the tree branch.

The creature saw all of this happened and couldn't help itself but laugh at the scene. "You animals do know how to make us laugh!" It shouted, then it let out a shit-eating grin and asked. "So, who wants to die first?" 

The group was surprised when the creature suddenly laughed at them, it was enough to stop the brewing fight between Ao and the guard, but their surprise quickly turned into fear when the creature grinned and asked them the question on who wished to die first. 

Ao tried to ease the creature by talking to it in order to stop it before it could do something. "Please, we came here to talk not to fight," he said, trying his best to diffuse the situation. And then to his utter disbelief one of the guards shouted, "Enough of this, you're going down! Monster!" and ran towards the creature, throwing a dagger in the process. 

Grinning the monster waited for the dagger to come close, when it was close enough it bashed the projectile back towards the guard who threw it, thankfully the guard was far enough not to get hit, unfortunately, he was not the target. 

Ao saw this and tried to stop the dagger from hitting, but he was too late. The female guard who was looking at her comrade, who threw the dagger, saw it sail through the air and almost hitting the creature before it was suddenly returned by the bash, it almost managed to hit the guard who threw it, thankfully he was at a safe distance from getting hit, delighted the female guard let out a deep breath happy that her friend was far away from danger, but her delight quickly vanished when she noticed the dagger coming right at her! She tried to escape but it was too late! The dagger embedded itself on her head, puncturing her brain, killing her quickly.

The others were shocked beyond belief when their friend suddenly went down, and when they saw the dagger embedded on her head they were frightened. 

“What the hell!” shouts one of the guards, looking at his dead friend. 

"Ellison!" cried the guard who threw the dagger, running to his fallen friend. "Noo!" he shouted in despair. 

Laughing, the creature then started taunting them. “What’s wrong? Scared? And here I thought you lot weren’t some spineless pigs!” it shouted. 

The rogue heard these taunts and couldn't hold his anger any longer, he just saw his friend getting killed by this monster and now it was taunting them, he had enough. With a warcry, the rogue rushed to the tree where the creature was standing and when he was near enough jumped towards the branch. 

Ao was shocked and saddened to see one of the guards dead, he tried to go to their aid, but then he saw the rogue running towards the enemy, "No stop!" he shouted trying to stop the attack, but he was again, too late. The rogue managed to jump towards the creature using his abilities, he then took out his dagger and tried to stab the creature in the chest but the creature managed to block this with its hand, it then gripped the rogue's hand and twisted it, resulting for the rogue to scream in pain, "You missed!" it sarcastically said, the creature then threw the rogue away. 

The rogue was thrown to a tree, knocking him down unconscious. 

Laughing, the creature once more taunted the group "Is that all you got? And here I thought you people would give me trouble! Hahaha!" it laughed. 

The others saw their friend on the offensive and joined him. When they saw him getting thrown away the lieutenant ordered his men to fire at the creature, the guards were quick to fire their arrows towards the enemy. 

" Tsk, child's play" the creature muttered and then it vanished, making their arrows miss, it then reappeared at their backs. Using its speed the creature took one of the guards and then twisted his arms into an uncomfortable angle, breaking the bones in the process. 

“AAAAHHHRRRGGGHHH” the guard shouted, wreathing in pain. 

“Lance!” shouts the lieutenant, running towards his men to try and save him, his sword at the ready. 

Milan who was witnessing this unfolding couldn’t help but start running towards the battle, intent on helping the others, he also heard Ao running alongside him. Looking to his right, he saw his friend and asked. "Ready for another battle buddy?" 

Ao looked at his friend and smiled. "Yup," he answered simply. 

When the lieutenant finally managed to get to his troop the creature had already let him go, the lieutenant tried to swing his sword towards the creature intent on cutting its head off. But his swing was too slow and the creature effortlessly avoided the attack, "What's the matter, too slow to make a hit? Maybe you should shed some of the weight you're wearing!" taunts the creature, and in a burst of purple light, created a powerful ball of energy and launched it towards the lieutenant. 

There was a blast of energy and the lieutenant, due to his heavy armor, did not manage to evade it and got hit, though thankfully, his armor managed to withstand the force of the blow, unfortunately, the force of the blow was strong enough to throw him away. 

“Lieutenant!” shouts one of the guards, the one who threw the dagger, and quickly took off to help his lieutenant who was thrown far away from the blast. 

The rogue who was now awake and standing saw this and resumed his assault on the creature, this time using two daggers and wielding it at both of his hands. "I'll kill you!" he angrily shouted. He dashed right to the creature in an attempt to pierce its chest, his moves were quick and agile, but the creature was far greater in speed. It evaded the strike and disappeared once more leaving a faint chuckle echoing around the field, the rogue re-focused himself, trying to discern where the creature hid, the creature reappeared behind him and the rogue quickly turned around, swiftly swinging his dagger to its throat. 

The creature saw the attack coming and fought him head-on, they were trading blows left and right, the dagger almost hitting it but it managed to evade, using its speed and its small stature the creature returned the attack two-fold, slashing and dashing towards the rogue. 

_ 'Damn it!'  _ the rogue thought, getting tired from the constant attacks of his enemy. He tried to counter this with a fast maneuver, evading the strike and used the momentum of the evasion to slash one of his daggers at the creature's flesh. The enemy evaded the attack and pushed the rogue backward. 

The creature who was also getting tired from playing with its worthless prey decided to finish this by summoning another ball of purple light and throwing it towards the rogue intent on blowing him to pieces. 

The rogue saw the attack but it was too late, his only wish before he could die is that he hopes that it wasn't going to be a painful experience. 

Thankfully before the purple bomb could hit him, a projectile made of blue light pierced the ball and both exploded on contact. 

"Hey, pick somebody your size!" shouted Ao. Shouting at the creature who was now looking at him. 

_ 'Finally _ !' The creature thought, excited by the prospect of facing off against Ao. Grinning with pure malice, the creature kicked the rogue away from them and then assaulted Ao, forming a purple glowing sword and striking the spirit guardian. Ao summoned his sword, made of blue light, and the two clashed. 

Ao swing to the left, trying to skewer the enemy but the creature block it, he then swings right and jumped kick the enemy, managing to hit it on the stomach, the creature let out a snarl and then returned the favor, by swinging his sword left and right and blocking Ao's attacks. 

While the two were in combat, Milan managed to come near the fallen guard. "Hey, you alright?" he asked, checking the guard for any wounds. 

Lance, who was sweating in pain, replied. “Yah think? My arm is broken!” he said sarcastically. 

Laughing, Milan then took a healing potion from his bag and said. “It’s alright, just drink this and you’ll be fine.” giving the potion to the guard for him to drink. 

Lance took the offered potion and gulped it down till the vial was empty. After a moment he felt his pain slowly easing, though his arms were still at the wrong angle. "My arm, why isn't it getting fixed?" he asked. 

Milan examined his broken arm and said. "You'll need another potion for that, unfortunately, I only got healing potions and some anti-poisons at the moment." 

Nodding his head Lance replied. “I understand.” accepting Milan’s explanation. 

Smiling Milan then told him to find some cover while he'll try to help the others. Agreeing to the offer the guard took off hiding inside a bark of a dead tree. 

Meanwhile, Ao and the creature were still trading blows. 

"Why are you doing this?" Ao asked, blocking his enemy's attacks. 

The creature twirled and delivered a series of slashes towards Ao, quickly swinging from left to right, "Because I can!" it shouted. 

Ao tried to defend himself from the assault but only managed to evade most of the attack, he was thankful for his leather armor for if not, some of those hits would have been fatal, overwhelmed Ao chose to retreat and run away from the creature. "What makes you think that you can just do what you want then!" he shouted. 

“Because I Am the epitome of everything! And you are my prey!” shouts the creature who was now running alongside Ao. 

Ao saw the creature readying for another strike, thinking quickly, he suddenly stopped and veered right, he then formed a sphere made of blue light and launched it towards his enemy. “You’re delusional if you think that you’re better than anybody else!” he shouted, watching as the sphere sailed towards his enemy. 

When Ao suddenly stopped, the creature used its claws as a brake and buried it on the ground, stopping itself before looking back towards its enemy, it then saw the sphere coming towards it, quickly discarding its sword, putting both its paws together, it then formed a shield made of purple light. The sphere hit the shield full force exploding upon impact, the shield managed to tank the attack but the creature still felt the force of the explosion pushing them back.  _ ‘Damn! This is powerful!’  _ it thought, feeling its paws getting torn by the pressure. 

Milan, who was busy tending to the downed lieutenant, who had been thrown 25ft away from the battlefield, felt the force of the attack and the explosion that came along with it. When he finally managed to look back towards the battlefield he saw Ao walking towards the enemy who was now clutching one of its arms, looking in pain.  _ ‘Wow, did Ao just manage to win?’  _ he thought. 

He then felt the lieutenant gripping his arms, when he looked at the lieutenant, he saw him grinning at the battlefield, he then heard him say, "Well I'll be damned, your friend could put up a fight!" 

Smiling Milan replied, “Yeah, he can, he is a great warrior.” he said, proudly praising his friend. 

Back on the battlefield, Ao was nearing the enemy when he noticed that it was hurt, it was clutching its arms, gripping it tightly while blood was flowing. "Give up, you're hurt, you can't do this anymore,  **we** don't need to do this anymore. I just want to talk," he said, placing both his paws up, showing his enemy that he was ready to end the fight peacefully. 

The creature looked at Ao and said, "Give up? Ha! I will never let you, useless prey associate, with me!" it shouted, it was not giving up easily, not to this creature! Grinning the creature then asked. "Why do you think that I would just give up when I'm having so much fun in our duel?" 

"Because you're hurt! Look at you, your arm is bleeding!" Ao replied, angry at being called useless and hearing the creature saying about how he enjoyed their duel. There was nothing fun in trying to hurt each other mindlessly. 

Grinning, the creature suddenly asked, “What is your name, creature?” 

Ao was surprised to hear this question, "Why do you ask?" he inquired, trying to gauge the reason why his enemy suddenly asked him for his name. 

"Because I would like to know the name of my next victim!" the creature shouted. It then started chanting, **_“Mundi O exaudi orationem meam, da mihi fortitudinem, praebueris infinitae virtutis tuae o suprema tenebris, mutata forma secundum voluntatem tuam!”_ ** Suddenly the creature started convulsing and was engulfed in a dark purple light. 

“What the!” shouts Ao, shocked by the sudden power engulfing his enemy. “What are you doing?” he asked. 

The creature didn't answer, it just grinned at Ao, and then let out blood-curdling screams of pain. 

Ao tried to help but his hooves seem to have been glued to the ground. His light was fluctuating, he was feeling the power being formed inside the dark purple sphere. 

“WHAT IS HAPPENING?!” shouts one of the guards. 

“I DON’T KNOW!” answered another. 

Milan was seriously concerned for his friend right now, whatever was happening inside that sphere nothing good would come out of it.  _ ‘Ao’  _ he thought.  _ 'please be careful. ' _

Ao was stunned, his enemy who was still encircled with bursting purple light of power was emitting an overwhelming amount of energy, the power being emitted was quite strong that Ao could feel his light energy being repelled away. Then the purple sphere became so bright that Ao was forced to shield his eyes. 

Suddenly, there was a huge explosion and then, the light was gone. When Ao reopened his eyes he was presented with something frightening. 

"What, in the name of Ori are you!" he exclaimed, in front of him, stood a bipedal bug-like creature, it's eyes were big and bulbous, its mouth is decorated with sharp pincers enough to cut flesh easily, its arms were huge and sharp claws bulging from its paws, its body was covered with a black hard-edged exoskeleton with insectoid wings growing at the back. Overall the creature was terrifying to look at. 

The creature inspected its new form, looking at its armored arms and feeling its insectoid wings. Pinching both its pincers and then letting out a screech. 

Milan became overwhelmed with shock and disbelief after seeing the creature's new form. And before he knew it, the creature quickly and suddenly attacked his friend. At one moment, Ao was standing on its front surprised and disgusted at the transformed creature, the next, he was sailing through the air. "AO!" Milan shouted, frightened for his friend. He then ran in the hopes of saving his friend from the enemy who has turned into a disgusting insect. 

“LAD!” The lieutenant shouted at Milan, but he paid him no attention. His wish to protect his friend was overwriting his sense of preservation. 

“YOU'RE JUST GOING TO GET YOURSELF HURT! COME BACK HERE!” the lieutenant tried again at no effect. 

The rogue saw this as well and ran towards the battlefield. "Don't worry Lieutenant, we got this!" he exclaimed. 

“WHAT!” shouts the lieutenant, surprised to see one of his men running towards the battle as well. 

Milan saw the rogue running alongside him, “I thought you hated Ao?” he asked.

The rogue looked at Milan and said. “I do, but I also know that he needs help right now, so I’m going to help whether he likes it or not!” 

Smiling, Milan nodded his head and the two continued their run towards the two. 

Meanwhile, Ao, who managed to stop himself from flying straight into a tree, was trying his best to protect himself from the unending assault by his enemy. 

“HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE SO USELESS?!” The creature taunted him, he then saw an opportunity when Ao managed to slip after one of his attacks, using his claws he caught Ao by his feet, “Whoa” Ao exclaimed, his vision turning upside down. Grinning and gripping tightly the creature then started using Ao as a bat and started beating him towards the ground, hard. 

Milan saw this and was shocked to see his friend repeatedly being beaten towards the ground. “STOP!” he cried. 

Ao was in a world of pain, he was repeatedly beaten down that he was pretty sure that his bones were all shattered, he couldn't feel his legs and arms, and his mind was becoming garbled, he was slowly losing his consciousness when he heard his friend call out to stop.  _ ‘N..o..M..i..la..n!’  _ he thought, afraid for his friend. 

The creature was having fun killing the useless pest, it was having so much fun that it didn't notice when one of the useless pest's friends managed to get near them and tried to stab them on the back using a small dagger. The dagger didn't even manage to scrape its exoskeleton and it was quickly broken upon contact. 

"STOP! STOP! STOP!" he heard someone shout, when it looked behind its back it saw the human who was friends with the useless guardian trying to stab them with a broken dagger, the human was even crying! Laughing it used its left claw and plucked the bugger off its back, it then got him in front of its face, looking at him with its glowing red eyes. 

"WHAT'S THIS? A PESKY HUMAN TRYING TO SAVE HIS PESKY FRIEND!" the creature taunted, it then held both of them together. 

Milan saw his friend’s unconscious broken form, he was bleeding from his mouth and it looked like some of his bones were broken. Milan became miserable when he saw his friend like this and he could help but shout. “AO!” crying. 

The rogue, disgusted by the creature's treatment towards the two, silently went towards the back, he slowly notched an arrow on his bow, and with a precise aim, shot it straight towards the beast's eyes. The shot managed to make a hit and the beast screamed in agony after the arrow pierced its right eye, quickly letting go of its hostages and shaking its head to get the pain away.

The rogue then came out of hiding then led the monster further away from the two, pelting it with more arrows. 

Milan suddenly felt himself becoming weightless when the monster suddenly let them go, feeling the ground, he quickly stood up and checked his friend. 

“Please be alright!” he sobbed, gathering his potions from his bag. 

He then took Ao's head and put it on his lap, he then uncorked a bottle of healing potion. Opening his friend's mouth he let him drink it slowly, afterwards, he uncorked another bottle of healing potion and dab some cloth in it, he then started dabbing his friend's wounds with a cloth soaked in healing potion, all the while gently cradling Ao like a father would to his child. "Please Ao, please be alright, I don't know what I would do if I lost you, I know we just met but I already see you as a great friend, as a family, please, I already lost my parents and my siblings, don't make me lose you as well." he cried. 

* * *

_ Ao didn’t know where he was, all he knew is that he was in a bright place with nothing in sight. He tried to walk and see if there was some kind of exit to this place but all he got was the unending white road. “Odd.”  _

_ He then started hearing someone talking, "Who's there?" he asked, the voice was male but what it was saying was indiscernible, "What are you trying to tell me?" he asked, not hearing anything he then started searching for the voice, "Please if you can hear me, say something!" he shouted.  _

_ He heard the voice again and this time it was quite near him. “Where are you? Please show yourself!” he then started running, trying to follow the voice. He was getting nearer and nearer and the voice was becoming distinct until suddenly.  _

_ ‘ _ **_PLEASE AO!’_ ** _ wait, that voice could it be? “Milan?” Ao shouted. Looking around he tried to search for his friend but he was not there. “Milan where are you!” he shouted  _

_ Ao tried to search for his friend again but it was for naught, he couldn't find him in this bright place.  _

_ "Milan if...you can hear me... Please say something!"Ao was now sobbing, he was getting scared, he was missing his friend and he doesn't like this place. "MILAN PLEASE SAVE ME!" he cried.  _

_ He was met with silence, shaking, Ao let himself fall to the ground, sobbing like a child. “Why?” he said, “Why did you leave me?”  _

_ Lost and afraid, Ao was slowly losing hope, when suddenly, out of nowhere, he heard his friend's voice again, this time, loud and clear. _

_“What makes you think that I’ll abandon you? Ao, you're my friend,_ ** _my best friend_** _, the only person that I have left, of course, I won't abandon you!_ _” he heard Milan say._

_ Best friend, those words echoed on Ao’s head, opening his eyes he then asked. “Do you really mean that? That I’m your best friend?” he was afraid, afraid that Milan would tell him that it was a mistake and that he didn’t mean it. He was proven wrong.  _

_ “Of course, I do buddy!” Milan answered affectionately.  _

_ Crying tears of joy, Ao suddenly felt himself floating, he felt energy flowing inside him, his glowing fur doubled in radiance and he felt re-energized, smiling. Ao pointed his paws up in the sky and screamed. A huge beam of bright light came out of his paws, shooting straight towards the sky, and then an enormous explosion happened engulfing the entire place along with Ao. _

* * *

__

The rogue was now in the offensive, after he saw the enemy clutching its eyes in pain he did not waste time and started pelting it with more arrows, hitting the less armored part of its exoskeleton. “Hah! And here I thought you were going to give me a good fight!” he taunted, using the same words the creature used before against it. 

The creature roared in pain after a nasty hit from an arrow to its left elbow. Angered, and in pain, the creature rushed the rogue, intent on skewering the useless human and painting the grass red with his blood. “RAARRRGGHH!” it shouted. 

The rogue saw the incoming attack and positioned himself to the left, firing one last arrow and hitting the enemy on the chest, he then took out his enchanted daggers and rushed towards the enemy. When he was near enough, he suddenly leaped upwards, getting the enemy caught off guard. He landed at the creature's right shoulder and started hitting it with his dagger, chipping some of the exoskeletons away. The creature roared in pain and started shaking its body to try and get rid of the rogue. The rogue simply jumped away after he felt that he was losing foothold. When the creature felt the rogue leave, it then turned to its back and re-engaged the enemy, thrusting its right claws towards the rogue. The rogue saw this and blocked the attack with both his weapons, the huge claw almost managed to break his daggers but thankfully both of his weapons were enchanted to take more force than usual daggers and managed to take the hit. Then with all his might, he threw away the offending claw and swiftly retaliated. Hitting the beast on the chest. 

“I’m having fun at this!” shouts the rogue, enjoying the sound of pain coming from his enemy. 

Snorting, the creature then let out a screech and using its insectoid wings, flew up, escaping the rogue's unending attacks. 

“I’LL BURN YOU TO A CRISP!” the creature shouted, and when it managed to arrive at its desired height, it suddenly let loose a huge fireball from its mouth, aimed at the rogue. “DIE!” it shouted. 

Eyes widening the rogue tried to run away from the incoming blast, but it proved to be faster than he expected, the ground in which he was standing recently was hit head-on and the explosion managed to hit him, his armor singe from the fire's temperature, thankfully the armor managed to hold and he wasn't badly wounded, unfortunately, he landed on a rock headfirst and was quickly knocked unconscious. 

Landing the creature took the limp form of the rogue and started squishing. "I'LL ENJOY PAINTING THE GROUND WITH YOUR BLOOD, PIG!" it said, grinning. The rogue, although unconscious seems to be struggling, he was being painfully constricted, a few more, and the creature would be able to crush his body. 

Suddenly out of nowhere, the creature was hit by something huge, and heavy. The hit managed to dislodge from the ground and he was sent sailing through the air. The rogue fell back on the ground after the creature lost its hold on him. 

Milan quickly went towards the rogue and put him in his back, he then started running back to safety all the while smiling at his friend. “Show that thing what you got buddy!” he shouted. 

Snorting, Ao grinned and replied, “Will do.” 

When the creature landed harshly towards the ground, it was thrown quite far away. Using its claws as a brake, it managed to stop itself, it then started to rise from the ground, feeling its exoskeleton breaking down. The hit was so strong that it almost cracked its entire exoskeleton. Roaring, both in pain and anger, the creature turned its way towards its attacker. And took a step back in shock. For standing a few feet away was a creature that it has never encountered before. The creature is a large beast, resembling a bipedal lizard, it has a huge head, its jaws were lined with sharp serrated teeth, the creature is balanced by its huge tail relative to its large and powerful hind legs, though comically, it seems to have a short, almost small for its size, forelimbs with two clawed digits on each arm. The beast itself was covered with white scales with some blue splotches seen on the tail, its eyes were blue with reptilian slits. 

“WHA--WHAT ARE YOU!” the creature shouted, petrified with shock from seeing the unusual creature. 

Grinning, the creature then shouted in a loud booming voice. “YOU’RE WORST NIGHTMARE!” and then charged towards the enemy. 

Seeing the incoming beast the creature stood up and tried to evade, but the beast managed to see this and quickly used its jaws to snap at the creature. Clamping hard, the beast then started shaking the creature. Using its powerful neck the beast then threw the creature away. 

Seeing this, Milan couldn’t help but shout excitedly. “Yeah, Go Ao!” 

The creature heard this and was shocked! The beast that it was currently facing was Ao!? 

Ao saw this and let out a huge grin, “Surprised? Do you really think that you're the only one capable of transforming?” he said, tauntingly. 

"Wha..what are you supposed to be?" the creature wheezed, pain apparent in its eyes. 

Snorting Ao turned his head to the left and answered. "I have no idea. All I know is that I'm going to stop you no matter what, in this form!" 

The creature let out a wheezing laugh and said. "TRY!" it then tried to attack, its sharp claws aimed towards Ao's chest. But before it even managed to hit, the creature suddenly felt sharp teeth biting down hard on its head. _ ‘Wha..What!’ _ it thought. 

Ao who saw the attack even before it began was already readying himself to counter. When the creature did attack, aiming at his chest using its claws, Ao swerved to the right, using his powerful hind legs to quickly move, and with one powerful burst of strength, Ao bit down towards the enemy’s exposed head, hard.  _ 'Say bye-bye, asshole!' _ he thought angrily, and with a forceful bite, ended his enemy. The creature tried to push its head away from the painful bite but it was too late, the last thing it felt before its head exploded into bits and pieces was how painful it was. And then the creature was dead. 

Spitting the remains of his enemy’s exploded head, Ao let out a victorious roar towards the heavens, standing tall and proud from his victory. 

Milan saw this and quickly went to give his friend a victory hug. He put his arms on Ao’s muscled hind legs and cried. “YES! YOU DID IT! YOU WON!” 

Smiling from his friend’s enthusiasm, Ao pointed his head down and nuzzled his friend. “I won’t have won without you, buddy.” he affectionately said, purring. 

Laughing Milan snuggled even more towards his friend's muzzle. Happy that they finally defeated their enemy. 

The two's happy moment was then suddenly ended when they both heard someone clearing his throat. Jumping back, and blushing from being seen hugging his friend, Milan saw that the one who was clearing his throat was none other but the lieutenant. "Lieutenant?" he asked, surprised to see the lieutenant. 

“Lad,” Nodding his head, the lieutenant then said. “I am glad that you and your friend are alright, and it seems you two even managed to defeat the monster.” the lieutenant said, looking at the two and towards the fallen beast. “With that said, I would wish to offer you both our deepest thanks. For helping us in this fight.” and then the lieutenant bowed at the two. 

"Woah, there sir!" exclaimed Milan, "There's no need to bow! We only did what was needed to do," he added, trying to stop the lieutenant from his bow. 

"And you two did it with ease!" shouts another person. Milan then finally noticed that all of the remaining guards were closing the group. "Oh hey guys!" he said, waving his hand. 

Smiling at him, Lance, who had come out from his hiding when the creature threw Ao away and quickly helped his lieutenant, replied. "Hey to you as well, glad that you and your friend managed to beat that monster," he said. 

The others then congratulated the two. Giving them their appreciation for their help. 

The rogue then came forward and looked at Ao's reptilian eyes. Grinning he then said. "I won't lie that I never liked you when we first met, because, I do, I really wanted to stick my dagger deep in your head! But your friend stopped me before I could." he started, pointing at Milan. Ao nodded his head after hearing this and urged the rogue to continue. "And then that creature appeared!" pointing at the dead body next to Ao, he then continued. "And what do you know, the beast's appearance was similar to you!" this time the rogue put his arms into the air. "At first I thought that this beast was with you and that you baited us in there so that the two of you could kill all of us! Hell, I even thought your friend was working with this plan!" he laughed, patting Milan's shoulders. "I am working with him, he is my friend," Milan mumbled. The rogue seemed to have not heard Milan's words and continued his talk. "And then you surprised me again when you not only saved my life, but you also put your on the line when you fought the beast." he was now smiling at Ao, "With that, you have my thanks." he ended, nodding his head for a moment before returning back towards his group. 

Ao who was aptly listening towards the rogue smiled when he heard him tell him that he was thankful for his help. Bowing his saurian head, Ao replied. "And thank you, for giving me a chance. And for helping my friend," he said, nuzzling his friend's face. 

Blushing Milan tried to push Ao away but the saurian's head was proving to be heavy enough to stop him from doing so, defeated he just let his friend continue nuzzling him, at the expense of his manly points. 

The other saw this and laughed. They then congratulated each other for their win. One of the guards, Lance, then suddenly asked his commanding officer. "Sir, what of Ellison.'' After hearing that question the group suddenly turned remorseful, remembering their dead friend. Sighing the lieutenant then told his troops, "Like we always do with our fallen brethren, give her an honorable send-off towards the heavens." nodding their heads the guards followed the lieutenant's instruction and quickly took off, ready to bury their dead friend. 

The lieutenant then looked back at Ao and Milan and said, “You two don’t need to come. We are only going to send our fallen friend to her final adventure. You can leave now and return to the town, tell Captain Arcturus that we have killed the monster that was causing the death and destruction towards the village of Costas.” 

Nodding their heads in understanding, Milan and Ao agreed and quickly left the area. Ao looked back and took a final look at the dead creature, snorting he returned his attention forward and walked alongside his friend. "You can ride on me if you want," he said. Lowering down his neck so that Milan could ride on him. "Really?" Milan asked, excited about the prospect of riding atop his friend's powerful saurian form. "Really," Ao replied, Milan didn't have to be told twice before he quickly settled into Ao's neck. "Onwards! My loyal steed!" Milan shouted, laughing at his joke. Ao laughed at this as well and with a powerful burst of speed, started running towards the town of Anima. Leaving behind the guards and their fallen enemy. 

* * *

Meanwhile, in a village, a figure drab in dark robes is seen standing in front of a broken house. The figure is waiting for something. Something good. Moments later the figure heard the rustle of leaves and then a figure appeared its form silhouetted by the darkness.

"What is the news?" the figure asked. Its voice is akin to an old man.

The other figure replied. "It is done."

Nodding the robed figure then showed his hands, which were covered in scars and a symbol of a dying leaf in a pentagram tattooed on the shriveled skin, and started chanting. "Tenebris praecipio tibi obvius fuerit sacrificium innocens ego oratum volumus nobis operite nos tua gratia adiuvate legatione! Omnes tenebrae!"

The wind seemingly became alive, leaves and broken barks started moving on their own, forming a circle with the robed figure in the middle, the night became darker and symbols started glowing from where the robed figure was standing, dark symbols, the other unknown being watched all of this happen and smiled. ' _ The plan is at hand, the world shall feel our pain.'  _ he thought.

Looking back at his associate he saw that he was already done with the enchantment. "Come, let us leave this place, there is nothing more of use in here." the unknown being said, its voice deep and menacing.

The two then walked away, leaving the village silent again.

After a few minutes, when the light of the moon finally shone on the village, it revealed a gruesome sight. Dead bodies lay on the ground, scattered, some were mutilated and some were disfigured beyond recognition, the road was coated with blood, mothers, fathers, and children all lay dead on the street.

It was an eerie sight to behold.

It was a silent night in the village of the stone, home to the stone Moki clan, whose blood covers the road.

* * *

**That got dark!**

**So what do you think? love it? hate it? comment below and tell me what you think!**

**Ori And The Blind Forest & Ori And The Will Of The Wisps belongs to Moon Studios and Microsoft Studios/Xbox Game Studios.**

**This story belongs to me**

**P.S the chanting is latin so you could just search for the translation.**

**Editor Sis Moment**

**Hi reader-chan! Remember the Ao took out his blue sword and the other with the purple????guess what? STARWARS**


	5. World Map Update

This isn't actually a new chapter. I just posted the map of my world so you guys could get acquainted with it.

My sister drew that and I just took some photos of it. We sadly don't have a scanner here at home. 

* * *

This is the World Map

* * *

This is the Western Portion

* * *

This is the Central Portion of the Map

* * *

And Finally the Eastern Part

* * *

Hope you like it. And be sure to stay tune for the next chapter!

Credit goes to Yuuni Hana. For the incredible art.

P. S. You guys could use this map for your own story just make sure to give the proper credit to me and Yuuni Hana.


	6. Together in a new Horizon

**Hey guys, here’s the new chapter! Before we begin I would like to deeply thank everyone who has followed this story so far! For being a great reader and active participant in my work, you guys rock!**

**Anyway let’s go on with the story!**

* * *

In a silent night, deep inside the Dark Forest, where darkness lurks in every corner and where creatures seldom travel in fear of what lies inside, a Moki is seen running. She was moving through the undergrowth, pushing herself further away. She was running in fear, running away from something.

_‘I got to find help!’_ she thought, her breathing labored.

Ming has been running for a good five hours now, ever since what happened, she has been running fast.

“Ouch!” she shouted, after hitting a particularly sharp vine. “Damn it!” she muttered, clutching her arm in pain. “I can’t stop, I have to keep moving!” and she did. She ran farther than she ever had in her entire life. The forest canopy passes by her quickly and so does the thick undergrowth which has been replaced with grass and a pebbled road. “Wait, a road!” she shouted, her brain finally noticed that she was now on a road. “When there is a road, there has to be a town or a village nearby!” she cried. And she continued running east, following the pebbled road. Towards a town or a village, her hope of finding help never dwindled.

* * *

“Hey buddy, can I ask a question?” Milan suddenly said, taking Ao away from his thoughts.

"Yeah sure, ask away," Ao replied, who was still in his saurian form running on the road which leads back to the town of Anima.

"Well, I know this is going to sound weird but, what creature are you? I don't mean you as like you, but I mean your current form?" Milan bashfully asked, scratching his head.

"Oh, you mean this form?" Ao replied, looking at his friend in the corner of his reptilian eyes. "Well I believe this form is one of the extinct creatures from before humans or even us guardians and other creatures that now roam this world exist!" he said smiling towards his friend.

“Woah, Really?” Milan started, “That is so cool!” he happily shouted.

Because of his friend's enthusiasm, Ao couldn't help but join him in his current mood.

“Yup. It is cool!” he exclaimed, letting out a short roar at the process.

Ao and Milan were so happy in fact that when Ao turned to the right of the Traders Route going straight back towards the town of Anima at the crossroad; he didn't immediately notice that someone was also running at high speed in the same direction towards them.

There was the sound of bodies impacting together and then. "OUCH! HEY, WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!" someone suddenly shouted, and from the sound of the voice, it was a she.

"I'm so sorry miss I didn't notice you were there!" Ao replied, ashamed for causing a collision unintentionally. "Really, really sorry, here let me help," he added, lowering his head trying to help the fallen Moki.

“It’s alright I’m” Ming started, that was when she finally noticed the creature right in front of her. “Al..right.” she finished slowly. Gulping loudly, she pointed at the creature and shakily asked. “Uhmm..si..sir...what..wha..” she couldn’t even finish her sentence, she was so surprised at what she was seeing that she suddenly passed out.

“Uhm.. She’s down.” Milan simply said, oddly looking at the passed out Moki.

Snorting, Ao asked Milan to come down from his neck and check the Moki if she is alright. Milan agreed and went down to check the Moki, when he was near enough, he took a potion from his bag and let the Moki sip some of it. A few minutes later the Moki finally awakened.

Rubbing her eyes, Ming suddenly said. "Woah, I just had the weirdest dream ever! I thought I just saw a prehistoric dinosaur walking... Around….." eyes widening from her sudden realization Ming immediately looked up. And low and behold, she saw the very same creature that she thought she just imagined." Am I dreaming? Or are you.. Real?" she asked, carefully reaching her paws towards the dinosaur's snout.

When her paws finally landed on the snout, she couldn't help herself; she started hyperventilating and started talking quickly. "Oh, my divines! You really are real! I couldn't believe this, a real dinosaur and I'm rubbing its snout! Oh the reaction of the others if I told them that I'm rubbing a dinosaur's snout." she said, all the while rubbing Ao's snout who seems to be loving the attention." Wait! You're a dinosaur. Aren't you supposed to be extinct!" she exclaimed, now realizing the impossibility of the situation. She then remembered the reason why she was running in the first place. "Oh my divines, I kinda remembered that I have to ask for help!" she exclaimed, and suddenly ran away, in the direction leading towards the forest.

Milan was very much confused about the situation. "She's a bit eccentric isn't she?" he said, looking at his friend while scratching his head in confusion.

Laughing quietly, Ao replied. “Yup, though she’s good at scratching.” he jokingly said.

Ao then realized that the Moki went in the wrong direction. "Um, should we go tell her that she went in the wrong direction?" he asked Milan, who was looking at him oddly.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Really, have you not been listening to her ramble?" Ao asked, looking confused at his friend.

Looking bashful, Milan laughed at himself and quietly muttered. "Um, she was talking quite fast that I didn't get a word she said," he replied.

Laughing at his friend's inattentiveness, Ao would have joked about it, if not for the Moki returning.

"Hello again!" she said, coyly looking at the two. "Um, I seem to be lost," she added.

The two looked at each other then back at the Moki and sighed. "Well... If you're looking for help, the nearest place would be the town of Anima" Ao said. Hearing this the Moki lit up and was about to go in the opposite direction again when Ao, quickly added, "Which is this way" he said, pointing the right direction with his small arms, Milan quietly chuckled at the sight of his friend's small arms.

"What?" Ao asked his friend. Milan just shook his head and replied. "Nothing!" he said, still chuckling from the bizarre scene.

Ming herself was quietly snickering. "So it's this way?" she asked.

"Yes," Ao repeated, pointing with his small teeny tiny arms, again.

Milan and Ming couldn't help it. They just couldn't hide their mirth anymore and burst out laughing!

"Hahahaha! Those tiny arms dude!" Milan shouted hysterically, wheezing for air.

Ming fell to the ground from laughing too much, holding her stomach. "That was so cute!" she cried. "I just want to hold those teeny tiny arms!" she added, wheezing from laughter.

Flustered, Ao finally realized why they were laughing at him, grumpily, he looked towards his friend "Thanks for being a good friend, buddy" he sarcastically said, he then transformed back towards his original form.

Putting his arms together he pouted at Milan who was still laughing, "You're mean!" he said.

When Ming saw the dinosaur suddenly glow and transformed into what seems to be a Spirit Guardian. She was extremely bedazzled; she suddenly stood up and took Ao's paws, shaking it fast. "Oh, my Divines you're a Spirit Guardian! I have never seen any of your kind before! This is so awesome! My name is Ming! And you are? I have a lot of questions for you! Are you really a spirit guardian? Where're your other fellows? Can you really glow like moonlight? Is it true that your ears are the fluffiest among all creatures? Are you---" she would have asked more if not for Ao stopping her.

"Alright that's enough." he said, "Yes I'm a Spirit Guardian, and my name is Ao, that's my friend Milan over there. And as for your other questions, yes we do glow like a moonlight, our ears aren't all fluffy, and my people are not in here, I'm the only Spirit Guardian who chose to go out of my home forest and venture out on my own. "

Milan nodded his head after hearing his friend's answer to all those questions. "Yup, that's what my buddy told me as well."

Ming was even more bedazzled by the seemingly awesome being in front of her." You're so cool! “She cried, eyes sparkling with admiration.

Ao blushed at the compliment and started fiddling with his fingers and looked away from Ming. "Umm… Yeah...Thanks...haha." he timidly said.

Milan was again laughing himself off, teasing his friend that he now has an admirer. "Look at that buddy! Somebody likes ya!" he teasingly said.

Glaring at him, Ao then looked at Ming and told her. "I'm not really that great or powerful, I'm just a normal Spirit Guardian traveling the world," he said, trying to stop her from her apparent reverence towards him.

Ming just looked at Ao and said. "You're still cool for me!" she exclaimed.

Milan took the opportunity to further embarrass his friend, nudging Ao's shoulder he quietly whispered. "Scratch, that admirer, she's totally in for you!"

Glaring at his friend again, Ao quietly replied. "Stop it man!" clearing his throat he then asked Ming what she needed help for. "Anyway, what kind of help do you need?" he asked.

Eyes widening Ming suddenly exclaimed "Oh my Divines, I forgot that I need help!" she shouted.

Ao and Milan sweat dropped after hearing this. They could not believe that Ming quickly forgot her troubles after seeing a Spirit Guardian.

Shaking his head, Milan inquired what her problem was.

Ming answered." Well, I need help locating my camp!" she happily said.

There was a pregnant pause after the duo heard her reply. And then, Milan suddenly exclaimed. "You need what!"

Smiling shyly, Ming replied. "Um... Yeah, I kinda got lost during my travels inside the Dark Forest," she said.

Hearing about the Dark Forest Ao suddenly remembered something, _'Haven't I met Milan in that forest as well? And he was also lost!'_ he thought, Ao then grinned, it was now his turn to embarrass his friend. "Reminds me of someone," he said, grinning towards Milan. 

Blushing, Milan glared at his friend and said, "Hey now! I wasn't lost, I was just having too much fun in the forest and ended up getting chased by a Howler!" he exclaimed.

Ming suddenly shouted after hearing Milan's words. "You were chased by a Howler?! That is so awesome! How did it go? Did it manage to bite you? Do you have cool scars to show! Tell me!" she exclaimed, dancing around Milan trying to get his answer. "Please tell me!" she shouted, eyes shining with curiosity.

Laughing, Ao replied. "Well, he was chased by the Howler throughout the forest. He was going to get eaten by it, but thankfully I was nearby and saved his ass!" he said, proudly explaining his timely arrival during that night.

"Wow! That is so coo--" Before she could finish her sentence, and become excitable again, Milan stopped her. "Alright that's enough, we're not going to get anywhere if we keep getting distracted." he said, looking at Ao and Ming, "So, before we get distracted again, Ming, where did you set up your camp again?" he asked.

"Oh... Um... I kinda forgot." she said, "But it's okay there is nothing useful there!" she added.

Eyes twitching, Milan let out a sigh, "Alright, great, then we should just continue our way back in town" he said, exasperatedly. "We do need to come back to town and report to the Captain, Ao," he added, reminding his friend about their current objective.

Ao nodded his head and agreed, he then looked at Ming and said, "You're free to come with us if you like." he offered.

Smiling at him, Ming replied. "Thanks!" and quickly grabbed Ao's arms and tugged him along the way.

"Woah there now!" Ao exclaimed, taken aback by the sudden tug.

Meanwhile, Milan was enjoying the scene. "Pfft... Haha! Ao, you player!" he quietly laughed and followed the two.

While walking towards the town, Milan suddenly remembered something, Ming was running at fast speed earlier, as if being chased, but she didn't speak a single word about it. He was puzzled and called out Ming who was now leading the way like a girl scout a meter away from the two of them.

"Ming!" Milan shouted. Ming kept on hopping along and without looking back, answered will a loud 'hm'

"Why were you running like you were being chased by something earlier?" Milan asked. Ao also realized this and looked at Ming who now abruptly stopped in her tracks.

"Oh… About that…" Ming hesitantly replied, she looked sideways and her head drooped down. With a long sigh, she answered. "I heard some branches cracking and leaves rustling back there, and I thought that someone was chasing me, so I ran as fast as I could, " she said, face as stern as stone.

Milan and Ao were taken aback; did she just presumptuously think that something was chasing her? And ended up running for her life?

"Umm… Ok, moving on now" Milan replied, a twitch visible in his eyebrow.

"Let's just get a move on and go back to Anima" Ao added.

Ming nodded and trotted along the path, leaving the two behind who nearly did a facepalm on her gullible attitude.

* * *

By the time the trio managed to arrive back in town, it was midnight. When the guards saw them they immediately asked them to come with them, agreeing, the trio then found themselves guided towards the barracks by two guards.

On the way, Ming couldn't help but ask. "Soo...What seems to be the problem here guys? I mean the guards just asked us to follow them out of nowhere when they saw us!” she said, looking at both Ao and Milan for an answer.

Smiling at her, Milan answered her question. “Well we might have fought a creature that was terrorizing the nearby village of Costas.” he proudly said, puffing his chest in pride.

"WOWEE Really?" Ming asked, amazed by hearing those words.

"Yup, we did," Milan answered. Grinning from the way Ming was looking at them both in admiration.

Shaking his head and letting out a sigh, Ao told his friends. "Enough, its night and I wish to sleep already, besides, I don't want to think about what happened back there. Not for tonight," he said, looking at his friends begging them to stop.

Milan’s attitude suddenly changed after he saw his friend looking at them with his face painted with sadness. _‘It seems the weight of the battle has finally fallen upon him.’_ he thought. Nodding his head Milan then told Ao, “It’s alright buddy, and we won't be talking about this again.”

Smiling to his friend, Ao then looked towards Ming.

Putting her paws up, Ming said, “Hey now, I wasn’t even there to whatever you guys did so I won’t talk about it, promise!” she exclaimed.

Smiling, Ao shook his head and told them, “Thanks guys, really, I appreciate it,” he said, thanking his friends.

“We’re here!” one of the guards suddenly announced. Getting the trio’s attention.

Nodding his head, Milan thanked the guards and bid them goodnight, before stepping inside the building, Ao followed shortly with Ming following on his back. When the trio finally arrived inside they were greeted by none other than the captain himself.

"Hello lads, I see that you two finally came back!" he said, then he noticed Ming and asked, "And who might this fine young Moki with you be?" he inquired, looking towards Ao and Milan for answers.

"This is our new friend sir, Ming," Ao said, introducing Ming towards the captain.

Ming waved her hand and shyly went to hide behind Ao.

Laughing, after seeing the shy Moki, the captain then asked them, "So, how's the hunt? Did you manage to find it? Or kill it perhaps?" the captain inquired, looking at both Milan and Ao.

Milan chose to answer the question. “It went well sir, we went towards the village as you asked, but it seems that villagers didn’t want us there so we were forced to flee and then--" before Milan could continue the captain stopped him," Excuse me, flee? Did the villagers hurt the two of you?" he inquired, looking at the two worriedly.

Nodding his head Milan said," Yes sir they did, they threw stone and pans at us as well. “Milan revealed

"By the Divines, are you two hurt?" the captain inquired, coming close towards Ao and Milan, to check them if they were hurt.

"No sir, we're fine" Ao replied, looking at the captain. "Though I can't say much for your guards' captain." he added, then he went towards the captain and said, "I'm sorry, I should have done better, if I did I could have saved your people's life, but I was too slow! I couldn't even pacify the enemy and show it the error of its ways... and. I... I... have.. I was... I have to kill it!"Ao said, bursting into tears after professing his failure to save the fallen guard and his enemy’s lives.

"Ao," Milan cried in distress and went towards his friend to comfort him, though he was beaten to the punch by the captain, who quickly took Ao in an embrace.

"Shh. Quiet now Mister Ao, don't blame yourself for what happened, tell me, if you have not defeated the enemy what would have happened?" the captain whispered towards Ao, caressing his head to ease him from his sadness.

"It would have... It would have killed everyone in the village sir." Ao replied.

Nodding his head the captain said, "Correct! That is why you should be proud of yourself! You saved not just the village of Costas but the lives of everyone that monster would have taken!"

Sniffing, Ao then looked at the captain and said, "Alright sir, I'll.. I'll try." and he washed his tears away with his paws. Ming then chose that time to hug Ao, comforting the Guardian. "Hey, it's alright, you're okay now," she said comfortingly.

Milan came near them and also gave his comfort. "She's right buddy, we're safe now. And it is not your fault the people died, it's a fact of life, not something that can be avoided altogether. Especially not in a Battlefield." he said, comforting his friend by rubbing his hand on his back.

Nodding his head, Ao replied, "Thank you, to all of you." he said, his voice muffled from Ming's warm fur.

"Captain, can we be excused? My friend is clearly exhausted and unable to answer further questions." Milan asked the captain.

Nodding his head the captain said, "Of course, I will not ask you to retell the events to me again, I would just ask my guards when they return." and then he called out towards the nearest guard. "Guard, guide our dear friends towards the nearest inn and give them a room. Tell the innkeeper that I would be paying for their stay!" he shouted.

Milan looked at him and said, "But sir!" Before he could sound his disapproval the captain silenced him by saying, "Consider this our payment, to the both of you for saving our town from the brutes and the village of Costas from that monster."

Milan, Ao, and Ming could only nod their heads, accepting the captain's offer.

The guard then saluted them "Hail heroes! Please follow me and I shall guide you towards the nearest inn for you to rest" he announced. Leaving the barracks, the guard then guided them back towards the nearest inn, which ironically was the Lady of the Night.

"Huh, well, at least it's a nice one," Milan said, after seeing the familiar building.

Ao, who has finally settled down from his breakdown, let out a small smile and suddenly yawned, already feeling tired from the day's event. “Yup, and I couldn’t wait to sleep!” he said.

Ming was silent over the way towards the inn, her thoughts far away. _'Poor Ao, I couldn't believe what he just has to face! Wait maybe I could cheer him up!’_ She thought, and after thinking for a while she decided the best way to do it was to hug Ao, again.

Ao was surprised to feel Ming hugging him again. "Uhh. Ming?" he said, curious as to why Ming suddenly hugged him.

Ming just looked at him and simply said, "So that you won't get sad again!" and continued her hug.

Smiling slightly, Ao replied, "It's alright Ming, I'm fine now, I promise!"

Letting him go, Ming then said, "Well if that's what you want. Though I would be forced to hug you again if you ever become sad!" she exclaimed, smiling at Ao.

Ao smiled back and the trio continued towards the inn.

When they entered the place, the innkeeper was surprised to see the duo again and was delighted to see that they also brought a new friend with them. "Good evening sirs, and mam. How may I help?" he asked.

The guard then told the innkeeper about what the captain said. “The captain has ordered me to guide our honored guest towards your establishment, good sir! He has also asked me to tell you that all their expenses shall be paid to you by the captain himself!”

Nodding his head the innkeeper asked the trio to follow him upstairs, “Please, follow me,” the innkeeper said, while the guard saluted Ao and Milan and left the inn, to report back towards the captain.

Finally arriving on the second floor of the inn, the innkeeper gave Ao and Milan the keys to the room that they have stayed in recently. "Here you go, good sirs, and ma’am, I already cleaned the room for you so you could go ahead and sleep."

"Thank you, sir," Milan said, thanking the innkeeper.

The innkeeper nodded his head and went downstairs, leaving the trio in the hallway.

Unlocking the door, Milan and Ao quickly went in towards their beds, but not after Ming suddenly interrupted them. Clearing her throat she asked. “So.. which bed would I be sleeping in?”

Eyes widening, the duo then looked at each other and thought. ‘ _Wait, why did the innkeeper forget to give her a room?’_

"Uhh..well..you could maybe sleep in my bed and I'll just sleep on the floor?" Milan offered, which was quickly put down by Ao. "No, you sleep on your bed, Ming, and I will share the other one," he said.

Ming then looked at Ao and asked him, “Would it be okay? I mean, you’re a male and I’m..you know, a female. Wouldn’t that be weird?” she said, blushing from the thought of sleeping on the same bed with Ao.

Smiling at her, Ao simply replied. "Watch" and he then took off his pendant, which he had put back on during their walk back in town, and changed his gender. Milan and Ming covered their eyes when Ao suddenly glowed brightly. Moments, later the glow subsided and the two saw Ao looking at them, smiling brightly. "See, it's not going to be weird if we are both females," she said, looking towards Ming, who was surprised to see and hear Ao as a female.

"Wwhhaatt!" Ming exclaimed. Milan on the other hand just shook his head, already familiar with the female version of his friend. "Only you buddy," he muttered to himself and went down towards his bed.

Ao was still looking at Ming's bedazzled face, shaking her head. She put her paws up and said. "Tomorrow.. I'll explain, but tonight, we sleep," she said.

Ming was going to ask how but after hearing Ao tell her that she would explain tomorrow she hesitantly agreed. "Okay, I'll put you up to your words," she said, slowly going towards their bed.

Laughing quietly to herself, Ao followed suit, and settled herself opposite of Ming, she then wished her friends both goodnight and finally fell asleep.

The next morning, Milan woke up to something that he thought he would never see. He saw both Ming and Ao, hugging each other.

"This is either a very good thing or a very bad thing. It's not all the time that you would wake up with two hot females, not including their species, hugging each other, and making purring noises!" Milan quietly muttered to himself. Blushing at the scene in front of him." And by the Divines, I think I'm leaning more into 'this is a good thing' rather than the other one! " he added.

Milan was saved from further embarrassing thoughts when the two aforementioned females woke up. _'Thank the Divines!'_ he thought.

Ao was comfortable, she was feeling warm and content, _'I could sleep like this forever!'_ Ao thought, snuggling further towards the warm pillow, _'Hmm sooo warm'_ and let out a purr, rubbing her muzzle on her warm pillow, she was so content hugging her warm pillow when suddenly, her warm pillow started purring back, _'Wut?'_ she thought. _‘Wha’s happening?’_ then she felt something warm and wet come into contact with her face, _‘Wuu, is my pillow licking me?’_ and then, she felt warm paws grab and hold her bum, squishing it. Eyes widening, Ao suddenly yelped and threw the pervert pillow away, “YAAHHHH!” she screamed.

Ming was comfortably snuggling her snugly pillow, she even licked it for being so nice to her for keeping her warm and fuzzy, then she went to hold it closer, only to touch something squishy, _‘What’s this?’_ she thought, and squeezed it even further, _‘Why is it so squishy?’_ she would have further squeezed it when she suddenly found herself sailing in the air.

Milan was speechless; he thanked the Divines once more for saving him from Ao's merciless uppercut. Ming was now sticking in the ceiling; her head inside it while her body hanging down.

Feeling the impact of crashing into something, Ming groggily woke up and tried to rub her eyes but instead she touched hardwood. _'Huh?'_ she groggily thought, then she opened her eyes and to her surprise, she saw nothing but pitch-black darkness. _'WHAT? WHERE?'_ she thought worriedly, she then continued touching the wood and finally realized that her head was stuck in it. _'Wha-??!'_ she then squirmed her best to release herself from the entrapment.

Ao, on the other hand, stood up from bed, her fur standing from shock due to the 'pervert', she then saw her buddy Milan just staring at her, his mouth gaping wide. "What?" she asked groggily, Milan flinched and didn't answer, instead he pointed upwards which Ao followed with her gaze, and lo and behold, the Moki was up and stuck in the ceiling, squirming like there's no tomorrow. "Erm… Anyone out there? Help! What is this thing?!" Ming called out, Ao's eyes widened and looked at Milan for answers, Milan shrugged and did a quick and silent reenactment of what Ao just did to Ming and then it finally became clear on Ao's head, it wasn't a pervert touching her bum, it was Ming.

"Heeeelp! I just wanna squish my pillow again!" Ming called out once more, Milan stood there seemingly enjoying the spectacle and looking bewildered at the same time while Ao simply sighed and did a facepalm. "Don't worry Ming I'll get you out" Ao replied, reassuring the hanging Moki that she'll be safe.

Hearing this, Ming calmed down and her body resumed the 'hanging' look, before Ao could even get on the ceiling to help Ming, the innkeeper suddenly busted inside, Ao and Milan were both caught off-guard and looked at the innkeeper, their faces filled with shock. "I heard a loud thud in here, is everyone allri--" the innkeeper was taken aback, he was scanning the room if anyone was hurt from the noise he heard, but he didn't expect to see a hanging, headless Moki on the ceiling. "Umm…" he didn't know what to say.

Ao sighed once more and with a swift jump, she pulled Ming out of the ceiling. Ming felt the tug and in a split second she was able to see their room again, and moreover, she was in Ao's arms. Eyes sparkling with admiration, she snuggled into Ao's chest "My hero!" she exclaimed. Milan snorted and quickly turned his gaze away from the two while the innkeeper just silently backed off and went outside the room. "Kids these days…" he muttered as he shook his head disapprovingly while taking the flight downstairs "I'll give them their sweet time, for now, besides, the captain said the guards would be paying for their stay, I'm pretty sure that repair costs are a part of that," he added.

“So.. that didn’t happen!” Milan suddenly said while clearing his throat, looking at both Ao and Ming, who were still snuggled into each other.

Blushing, Ao quickly let go of Ming and dropped her on the hard floor. “Yup, this did not happen, not at all!” she said, walking towards Milan, seemingly ready to square up with him. Milan quickly backed down and accidentally hit his bed causing him to sit down and saw that Ao was now in front of him, arms crossed, and eyes glaring at his soul.

"Ahahaha…" Milan tried to laugh it off, but his buddy seemed to just raise an eyebrow at him, _'Talk about becoming a real female, even his attitude became one!'_ Milan thought while staring back at Ao who was still glaring at him. 

Thankfully, Ming then chooses the right time to interrupt the scene, she was holding her stomach in her left paw while massaging her butt in her right paw. "You guys aren't hungry yet? I'm starving…" she spoke, Milan silently thanked Ming's intervention and quickly went into the flow with her, "Huh? Who said I'm not hungry? I'm famished!" he exclaimed, standing up rubbing his empty stomach. "Whaddaya say, buddy?" Milan enthusiastically asked his friend, Ao on the other hand just sighed once more and smiled, "Yea sure, now that you remind me about food, I'm also quite hungry" she remarked.

And the trio went down to eat, though not before Ao transformed back to his male gender.

* * *

After savoring their meal, the trio thanked the innkeeper and promised to pay for the damages they made. "It's alright, the Captain did promised to pay for all your expenses and that included damage to property, so you don't have to worry about that!" the innkeeper told them, laughing.

"Ahaha," Ao shyly laughed, looking at the innkeeper bewildered. After the trio gathered their items they went outside and bid goodbye to the innkeeper when they were outside they were then met with lots of people seemingly waiting for them.

“Uhmm.. Hello!” Milan said, waving timidly at the mob.

Ming was hiding behind Ao who was looking at the gathered mob curiously.

Then one of the people in the mob went forward and bowed towards the trio. “Thank you! Great warriors! For your help in eliminating the beast!” he reverently said.

Ao blushed and sweated profusely, shaking his head, he told them, "It's alright, I and my friend only did what we promised to do!" he said, waving his paws in the air.

Milan nodded along while Ming was still somewhat confused. "Wow you guys are really famous, you're like celebrities!" she exclaimed. Ao and Milan just shrugged her comment off.

"Still, you both have our deepest gratitude!" the man said, and then he and his fellows turned back and dispersed.

The trio was left in silence afterward. "Well, that just happened," Ao said, he then looked at his friends and told them, "So, where to now?" he asked

"Well, we could go towards the market, to buy us some items and other essentials?" Milan said, "Remember, we didn't have the chance to do so last time buddy. So maybe we could buy today in peace since those brutes are in jail!" he further added, reminding Ao that they didn't have time on buying items yesterday since the brutes showed up.

"Alright, that sounds nice!" Ao replied.

And the trio proceeded towards the market.

When they finally arrived they saw that the market was full of people purchasing items and other things. The trio proceeded to head towards one of the stores that sell a multitude of items, from books to camping essentials.

"Wow, this place is loaded!" Ao exclaimed, after seeing the shelves brimmed to the fullest.

"Yeah, wowie I could stay here for an entire afternoon just by browsing around!" Ming said, looking around the store.

"Well, no reason for being tardy then, let's go search for things to buy!" Milan said to his friends.

And the trio proceeded to search for the items they would need. Ao went towards the back looking for handbags and camping tents, Milan went to the left side of the store in search of good items to buy, while Ming went towards the clerk, to ask for help.

"Umm, excuse me?" Ming said towards the shoebill clerk who was busy minding the store.

"Squork, Yes? How can I help?" the clerk replied towards Ming.

"Well, you see, I'm trying to search for some camp lights and some insect repellants, do you have that in-store?" she said.

Nodding his feathery head the clerk replied, "Yes we do, come follow me then, I have just the things that you want."

Meanwhile, Ao and Milan both found themselves in an impasse.

"Man, what to choose from" Ao sighed as he scanned the shelves, there were loads of different handbags, some were made from leather, some from wool, some from cotton, and others from high-grade silk. Other than the material it was made from, they also come in different colors as well as shapes and sizes.

Ao scanned each shelf slowly, looking for a bag that would pique his interest, after scanning the third shelf, his eyes landed on a brown leather handbag with various pockets of different sizes, enough to carry all his items, "Perfect!" he exclaimed as he quickly took the bag and proceeded to search for some other necessities.

Milan himself was busy searching for anything that may capture his fancy, first, he went into the trinkets section and search for anything he might like, then he went towards the weapons section trying to see if he could perhaps buy something that he could use to protect himself, he did end up getting a small sword before he decided to go and check the books section. Looking at the numerous books and grimoires for sale, Milan was left quite speechless, "Wow, some of these books are very old ones, and some of these grimoires even consist of dead languages!" he exclaimed, he then saw something that got his attention, it was an old book in blue leather cover, he took the book from its shelf and checked its cover," Lucem Accitis et Proprietates" he read, _'Wow, this one's nice!'_ he thought, and took the book as well." Now, to find out where Ao is." he said, and started searching for his friend.

After a few searches Milan came upon Ao who was busy choosing some tents, "Hey there buddy." he announced.

Ao heard his friend and looked at him, "Milan," he acknowledged, he then saw his friend sporting a new sword on his right hip and clutching a blue book, "I see that you've made your choices." Ao said, pointing at his friend's new items. "Yup, and they're both a good find too!" Milan proudly exclaimed, showing off his new sword and his blue book. Laughing at him, Ao then returned his attention towards the tents, "I need help here." he said.

Milan went towards Ao and looked at the tents he had been looking at. "Hmm, I kinda like that blue one over there!" he said, pointing at a blue medium-sized tent.

Ao looked at where Milan was pointing and nodded his head. "Yeah, that looks nice!" he said, he then grinned at his friend and said, "Though I think you're being biased bud, I mean a blue book, a blue tent, not to mention you're wearing a blue dress. I can see some patterns here!" Ao exclaimed.

Blushing Milan looked at Ao and asked, "So, are we buying it?" changing the topic away from his apparent obsession with the color blue, _'Got to make sure that Ao doesn't find out that I quite like his sky blue eyes!'_ he thought.

Ao just smiled at his friend and nodded, he then took his wallet from his pocket, only to find out that it wasn't there. Checking his other pocket he also felt that it was empty.

"Umm…Yeah we might have a problem." Ao suddenly stated, showing his empty pockets towards Milan. "I kinda lost my wallet," he said.

Milan was surprised to hear this, "Since when?" he asked, "I mean didn't you have it yesterday?"

Blushing, Ao suddenly remembered something from the night before. "Yeah, I kinda remembered, my wallet may have dropped during the battle after I was sent sailing through the air…" he said to his friend, blushing.

Letting out a sigh, Milan then told his friend, "Don't worry, I'll pay for it!" he said, patting Ao in the shoulder trying to lighten him up." Call it payment for saving my life and being an awesome friend!" he added.

Smiling at his friend, Ao said, "Thanks buddy!"

"No problem!" Milan replied and the duo went towards the cashier to pay for their items.

When the duo managed to get there they saw Ming waiting at them with what seems to be a set of camp lights and three bottles of insect repellant.

"You've been busy.” Ao said, pointing at Ming's items.

Grinning, Ming then told them, "Well, since I already have a tent and a bag, I thought that maybe I could buy something else, and since it seems that you two are only buying your items, I decided to buy us some needed lights and insect repellants !" she said.

Laughing, Milan then said," You want to come with us then? " he asked, looking at Ming.

“Well, I could use a traveling partner or two." Ming replied," And besides, three is better than one right?" she added.

Ao smiled at her and said. "Well, you're always welcome to come with us, Ming! You're our friend after all!"

"AWIEEE!! Thank you!" Ming cried and hugged Ao, tightly, "Thank you, thank you so much!" she happily said.

"Alright, alright! You can let me go now!" Ao replied, laughing at Ming's enthusiasm and feeling pain from her vice grip.

"Sorry!" Ming said, and quickly let go of Ao.

Laughing at the two Milan then went towards the cashier and paid for their items.

* * *

After a while, the trio found themselves walking down the street looking at the various stores in the market. They decided to further search for essential items before going out of town.

While they were browsing for items the group overheard a person talking, "Haven't you heard? A new emperor is sitting on the throne!"

Milan was caught off guard by the news. "A new emperor? But what happened to the last one?" he quietly said.

Apparently, he wasn't quite enough since one of the passersby heard him and answered his question. "He died in a heart attack!" the person said.

Milan was shocked to hear this news. "Really?" he asked.

"Yes, he died just a week ago and his brother is now acting emperor since the former emperor's child is still quite too young to sit on the throne!" the person replied.

"I see, well thank you for telling me, sir!" Milan replied and thanked the passerby.

Ao and Ming, who was watching at the sideline while Milan and the passerby were talking, talked to each other. "Who's the former emperor of this kingdom?" Ao asked.

"His name is Emperor Lumien Nier. He wasn't that much of a great emperor, though he did get the empire to where it is now." Ming replied, a bit troubled from hearing the news.

Ao noticed his friend's worried face and asked. "What's the problem Ming? You seemed worried?"

Ming, who was looking at a distance, answered her friend. "I grew up in the capital, so I know quite a lot about the emperor. And to hear that he just recently died, it is a bit, disheartening for sure, and also a bit worrying," she said.

"What do you mean?" Ao quietly inquired.

"I mean that the emperor was quite a healthy person. And to hear him die of a heart attack is something I could not anticipate happening," she said in a hushed voice, looking at Ao's eyes.

Milan then called them up before Ao could ask more. Ming looked at him and mouthed, _' I'll tell you next time'_ and discreetly winked at him before looking at Milan and said. "We're coming!"

The trio then decided to continue their search.

* * *

Afternoon came and after being thanked by the Captain again for their help as well as given by the town mayor coins for their journey, and after Ao got his wallet back from the guards who they have fought alongside the night before, the trio found themselves at the gates of the town.

"Here it is," Ao said, looking at the horizon seeing the sage hills in the distance.

"What do you mean?" Ming asked, at the back of the group.

Ao looked at her and replied. "The beginning of our journey of course!"

"Journey?" she inquired.

Milan simply let out a silent sigh, while Ao replied to Ming's question "The journey to take Milan back home" he said Milan simply looked down and didn't say a word.

"Ooooh? Where do you live?" Ming enthusiastically asked Milan while tugging the end of his shirt.

"Well… I Live in a village named Dewpoint, just under the Crying mountains" Milan answered. Ming let out a huge gasp and ran towards Ao, holding his paw.

"If we're going there, then maybe we can drop by to my place too!" Ming said, her tone was jumpy and lively.

Milan looked at Ming and asked, "Where do you live?" and Ming quickly answered "The Capital!"

Ao and Milan looked at each other and back at Ming, after some awkward silence, Ao nodded and started to walk away from the town gates.

"Bud?" Milan asked, confused as to why his friend just left. Ao turned around and smiled.

"Well? What are you two waiting for? Let's Go!" Ao encouraged, smiling at them from the horizon, the sun at his back, giving his fur a luminescent glow.

Ming and Milan looked at each other and smiled, running towards Ao, and the group started walking away from the town of Anima, looking at the horizon, hearts filled with joy for the coming adventure.

* * *

**END OF ARC 1**

**And done! I hope you guys love it! I and my sister did this for three days! Though, we did have fun writing and editing this one.**

**So the character have all been fully introduced, the plot is set and our heroes adventure is about to begin!**

**Anyway, please tell me what you think down on the comments below! I would really appreciate it to hear from you guys!**

**Ori And The Blind Forest, and Ori And The Will Of The Wisps belong to Moon Studios and Xbox Game Studios.**

**This story belongs to me and Yuuni Hana**

**P.S. I would be rewriting the first chapter of this book because I find it a bit lacking, don’t worry nothing would happen that would make me rewrite the entire story, just the first chapter. So update to the next chapter might be longer than expected.**

**Editor sis moment:**

**READERS! DID YOU KNOW?**

**Chocolate is bad for your creative brain, trust me, it made me and author bro go crazy.**

**For example:**

**The people turned their backs and died (supposedly dispersed) ffs i swear, dont eat choco while writing, its like... this: "Yeah Nah mate I ain't doin that" - a certain Aussie**


	7. Character Update

**Hello guys, this is not a new chapter, instead I would like to introduce you to the main characters of this story.**

**All of this art have been drawn by my sister Yuuni Hana, so art credit goes to her.**

**Anyways, without further adieu.**

**Here are the main cast**

* * *

**Here is Milan**

* * *

**This is Ao**

* * *

**And finally this is Ming**

* * *

**Again, credit goes to my sister Yuuni Hana for the beautiful artwork.**

**New chapter would be posted in a few days.**

**I hope you guys are staying safe and have a nice day!**


	8. New friends, old enemy

**Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait, me and my sister got really busy this week with exams and all and I barely had time to work on this one. But fear not! Cause here it is! I hope you’ll have fun reading this one!**

**Anyways, on with the chapter!**

**“Speaking”**

**_‘Thoughts’_ **

**Line signifies a scene change.**

***This chapter is dedicated to** [ **Qazsedc** ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Qazsedc/pseuds/Qazsedc) **, Mel Aniv, Juna and Player 1000 for them being awesome and supportive of my work! And to all who had faved/followed/kudos, thanks guys you rock!***

* * *

Deep beneath the soils of Mount Valbor, Home to the Earth Guardians, darkness loomed closer, inching in every corner of the sacred temple. The ground softly shook, the dormant torches lit up in an eerie purple glow. An ancient Evil stirred within the shadows, the darkness has called, and now, it waits for its time to strike. 

The earthen golem standing guard on the temple's doors felt the tremor. Curious, he opened the door to inspect if there were any damages. Only to be met with a pair of glowing purple eyes. 

"By the Divines!" he exclaimed. In an act to alert the others, he took the bull's horn hanging on his waist and sounded the alarm, it was quick enough to alert others but too late to save his life. With gnashing of teeth, the last moments of the golem was seeing the beast's figure, with great terror painted on his face. 

Minutes after the encounter, the sounds of footsteps echoed throughout the temple doors. The gruesome remains of the golem scattered on the temple door, the reinforcements stood still, shocked. A small elderly man walked towards the poor golem's remains. His hands shivering as he held tight on his wooden staff. 

"It… It can't be…" He spoke with disbelief in his voice. "The prophecy… It's way too early!" he continued. 

"Great Elder, what should we do?" A brusque Lizard clad in orichalcum armor inquired. 

The elder sighed and stomped his staff, and in a loud voice, he commanded. "Lock the temple doors, evacuate all civilians, send a message to the emperor of Ardine, All guards stay on the ground and make sure no evil passes outside of this temple!" 

After giving the command, all guards scattered to carry out the orders, the elder, left behind, sighed in regret. "We must uphold, until the end, we must follow the prophecy…"

* * *

“My emperor, please heed my warning! The shadows are slowly spreading, your people are in danger and in no capacity to fight, you have to allow my proposal! Or soon the whole of Ardine would be cast in endless darkness.” A man said, pleading towards the emperor 

Snorting in dismissal, the emperor waved his hands and shouted, "Guards! Please, escort this mad man away from me! His pitiful cries and deceitful lies would only tarnish the golden carpet upon which the fool stands." 

The imperial guards saluted and did as they were told. 

"No! No! You have to listen! You have to! Or else! It will be the end of us all!" the man shouted, pitifully trying to escape the iron grips of the imperial guards as they slowly dragged him away. "Please!" he cried one last time before the doors to the chamber were shut. 

Rubbing his head, the emperor looked to his left, towards a man hidden in the shadows. “Ulric, make sure that bumbling baboon would not trouble the townspeople, yes?” he said towards the man named Ulric. 

Bowing down, Ulric reverently replied. “As you wish, my liege.” and left the room to do the emperor’s bidding. Hands gripping tightly on his sword's scabbard.

* * *

“I spy in the corner of my eye, a tree that is pointed and green!” Ming said, looking at her friends for their answer. 

"A pine tree," Ao answered, looking bored while walking. 

Sighing, Milan then announced to the group, “We’ve been walking for a while now, how long till we get to the Capital again?” he asked.

The group had been walking for the last seven hours now, ever since dawn came, and after a nice rest they had started their walk towards the Capital, they had just recently passed the River Dale and are now walking in the path that leads to the Capital with the edges of the Dark Forest visible on their left. 

“Oh! Let me see!” Ming answered, taking her map from her bag. “Well, not long now! We just crossed the River Dale and on our way to the Capital!” 

“Thank goodness!” Milan exclaimed, “I can’t wait to see the Capital!” he said. 

“Me as well buddy!” Ao said as well. 

Giggling, Ming then asked them, “You guys are really excited about seeing the Capital are ya?” 

The duo smiled at Ming and enthusiastically replied, “Yup!” they said, almost the same time. 

The group then proceeded in a fit of laughter. 

Shaking her head while giggling uncontrollably Ming couldn’t help but say, “Don’t worry you guys! It will be worth it!” 

After a while the group had settled down from their joyous laughter and was now silently walking on the road, moments later the group started seeing a towering spire in the distance. 

"Wow, that's very tall!" Ao exclaimed after he saw the spire. 

Nodding his head in agreement, Milan also voiced his amazement, “Yup, it is!” 

Again, feeling giddy from seeing her friends excited and in awe about her home, Ming replied, "That's the Tower of Kings, it's where the Emperor and his family lives." 

“Really?” Ao asked her intrigue after hearing those words. “That thing is even taller than my father tree!” he further added. 

Ming nodded her head, “Uhuh, it is quite known back in the city that the tower is the tallest building there is in Ardine!” She then looked questionably at Ao and asked, “Father tree?” 

Blushing, Ao replied, “Sorry, I forgot that you don’t know much about my kind!” 

Laughing at him, Ming said, “Well, you haven’t told me yet, and besides your kind are barely outside your forest!” 

“She’s right you know!” Milan said, joining in the conversation. 

Looking at the two, Ao shook his head and smiled at them, “Right, I’m not going to pretend that I don’t know what you guys are talking about!” he said, “So, I’ll just give you a rundown of the reason why we seldom travel outside our forest!” he added, looking at Milan and Ming. 

"So what is it?" Milan asked after Ao suddenly stopped talking. 

Smiling, Ao crossed his arms and replied, “Because our forest has everything a Spirit Guardian needs to live!” he happily exclaimed, spreading his arms in the air. 

Blinking, Ming looked at him and asked incredulously, “So, you guys have everything in your forest all by yourselves?” 

"Yup! Though we do share our resources with other people! For example, my home exports fruits and dried meat to this kingdom." Ao said, answering Ming's question. 

"Now wait a moment!" Milan interrupted, "Buddy, are you saying that you guys are loaded with resources back at your home that most of your people barely have any reason to leave?" he asked. 

Smiling at Milan, Ao nodded his head and answered. "Yup, and we also have enough land to live on to!" 

“So if what you're telling us is true, then how come you're here and not back at your home?” Ming asked, genuinely confused. "Cause from the way you say it, your home seems to be the perfect place to live to?" she added. 

Scratching his head, Ao looked at the ground and bashfully replied, "I may have my personal reasons why. Let's just say that I grew tired with the monotony back at home and wished to go on an adventure." 

“I see,” Ming answered smiling at her friend, “Don’t worry we all have that feeling happen to all of us!” she said, trying to cheer up Ao. 

"Right, what she said," Milan said, pointing his thumb at Ming. 

"Why thank you, good sir!" Ming jokingly said and bowed at Milan. 

Laughing, Ao shook his head and just joined in the fun. 

"Hahaha! You guys are the worst!" Ao exclaimed, happily laughing along with his friends. 

"You know it bud!" Milan answered, grinning at his friend. 

"Oh, and Ming, to answer your question, Father tree literally means what it means. I was born from a tree! All Spirit Guardians are!" 

Eyes widening in excitement, Ming happily replied, "Really!?" 

Nodding his head, Ao proudly said, "Really, really!" 

Suddenly the trio’s fun conversation was broken when out of the blue, two creatures appeared from the nearby trees and ran towards them while shouting for help. 

“The hell!” Milan cried, surprised by the sudden appearance of the two. 

“Please help us!” cried one of them, a large, rounded, gumon. 

“It’s gonna kill us yo!” cried the other, a dark owl wearing a purple tunic with gold linings as well as wrappings on his right-wing. 

“What’s going to kill you?!” Ao asked the two heaving creatures. 

“THAT THING!” they both shouted and pointed back towards the trees. 

Seeing nothing, Ming then said, “Uhmm.. sorry to burst your bubbles but, there is nothing there.” 

Glaring at her the two replied, "YES THERE I---" before they could finish though, a creature suddenly leaped out of the forest, letting a screech along the way. 

“THE HECK!” Milan shouted, stepping back in surprise, “WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!” he shouted, pointing at the creature. 

“It looks like a mix between a frog and a lizard!” Ming replied, disgust evident in her voice. 

Ao on the other hand, immediately recognized the creature, “It’s a snapper!” 

“A what now!?” Milan exclaimed. 

“A snapper is a creature of darkness that resembles a lizard, they can be as big as a tiger and are far more dangerous than one!” he said. “They are also known to be quite benevolent unless disturbed!” he added. He then glared at the two cowering individuals in the back and asked them, “What did the two of you do?” 

“Umm... we a... we were... we were trying to find a treasure that was laid out on a map that we bought... but... we a… we came across the snapper instead!” the Gumon exclaimed, "Please, you got to believe us! None of us wanted this thing chasing us!” cried the owl 

Letting out a breath, Ao replied to them both, “Just stay there and don’t do anything else!” he commanded. 

The two could only nod their heads in fear after receiving another glare from the guardian. 

Ao then refocused his attention towards the snapper. _‘Damn it, all I want is to have a peaceful day of walking with my friends and this happened!’_ he thought. Ao then heard Milan stand along with him and whispered, "Hey Ao, I thought creatures of darkness are supposed to be weak against the light?" he asked. 

Smiling a little at his friend, Ao answered, “You’d think that would you?” he said, “Well, let’s just say that not all creatures of darkness are weak against the light.” he added, “Take our ‘friends’ over there for example.” Ao said, pointing towards the two creatures behind them. “They are both creatures of darkness, yet they are free to roam in the day. Some creatures of darkness actually live alongside the light in a peaceful coexistence!” Ao finished. 

“I see, so you mean this snapper is also one of them? Creatures of darkness that live alongside the light?” Milan asked. 

Nodding his head, Ao was going to answer when Ming suddenly interrupted them both. “Uh, guys, the snapper’s moving!” she shouted, pointing towards the snapper which was charging at them. 

_‘Damn! I forgot about this guy!’_ Ao thought, he then shouted to the others, "Break up!" 

And they all did, Milan quickly ran to the right, opening his bag and taking a paralyzing potion, forgetting that he now carries a sword. Ming went to the left, also opening her bag and taking a slingshot, _‘Let’s see what this can do!’_ she thought, grinning she took a small pebble and loaded it on her slingshot. _‘Aim!’_ she went to aim towards the still charging snapper, _‘Fire!’_ Ming released the rubber and fired, the pebble sailed through the air at high speed and managed to hit the snapper on the head, “Yes!” Ming exclaimed, happy to make a hit. 

The snapper staggered for a moment after the hit, it then shook its head to try and stop the pain. 

Ao saw that hit and quickly took the opportunity it presented, taking his pendant off his neck and putting it in his pocket, he then summoned a light sword and rushed towards the enemy. "Here I go!" he shouted. 

The snapper saw that attack and tried to snap the sword away, but Ao managed to evade the attack and deliver a blow in the snapper's hind leg. "Groaar!" the snapper roared in pain. “Please! Stop this! I don’t wish to hurt you further!” Ao shouted, pleading to the snapper to stop its reckless attack. 

The snapper, now angry at Ao, didn't listen and instead continued its assault, rearing its legs, the creature then jumped high in the air and formed into a ball, afterwards it then started spinning while falling down towards Ao at high speed. 

“Oh great!” Ao shouted, and exchanged his sword for a shield. “This is going to hurt!” he said, and the snapper then impacted his light shield, almost breaking it and making Ao grunt in pain. _‘This thing is quite strong!’_ he thought. 

Milan saw the attack and quickly took aim, "Don't worry Ao, I got your back!" he shouted, then he threw the potion towards the creature. Fortunately, the throw was spot on, hitting the creature in the head, unfortunately, Milan forgot to account that what he was aiming for was a creature made of flesh, and the bottle that he threw was quite sturdy enough that only hitting something hard would break it. There was a sound of a bottle hitting flesh, and then silence.

 _‘Shit.’_ was Milan’s only thought, as the creature slowly looked at him, its eyes burning with anger and a comically red bump was present on its head. 

Ao was in serious disbelief, he just saw his friend throw a bottle made of glass towards a creature whose skin can be used as a pillow. As the glass bounced away there was only one thing that Ao could think to say. “Seriously!” 

Ming could only shake her head in disappointment, "Boys." She quietly muttered, she then took another pebble and loaded it on her slingshot, aiming at the snapper she waited for it to start moving towards Milan, when the creature did move she immediately fired, hitting her target on the rump. "The heck!" she exclaimed in anger after her botched shot. 

Milan saw the snapper coming his way, quickly thinking of a solution, he then remembered that he actually had a sword, grinning, he quickly took his sword out of its scabbard and shouted, “I’ll get you this time you bea--” he couldn't finish his dialog, as he was suddenly tackled by the creature, trapping him beneath its huge, somewhat squishy, stomach, “Oh gods.” he cried. He tried to stab it only to find out that he had lost his sword when he was thrown away from the impact of the tackle, gulping he slowly said, “Hey there, good boy or girl, please don’t eat me!” he cried. That was when he noticed something, _‘What the heck is that?’_ he thought, looking at a branch that was sticking on the snapper's right paws. _‘Wait! Don’t tell me?!’_ and then the snapper tried to bite him. _'Damm!'_ he thought, and used his hands to stop the snapper from biting his face off. 

“Hold on Milan!” Ao shouted as he sprinted towards his friend to free him from the snapper. 

Milan heard this, thinking quickly while pushing the snappers head away from him, he shouted, “No stop!” 

“What do you mean stop!” Ao shouted, shocked to hear his friend say those words. “Why should I stop? That snapper’s going to kill you!” 

"Because I think I know what's making it angry!" Milan shouted back. "You got to trust me on this one bud!" he said. 

Gritting his teeth, Ao replied, "Fine!" and promptly stopped his assault. 

Smiling, Milan then put all of his force in trying to get the protruding branch that was stuck on the snapper's left paw. "Please don't be mad at me!" he shouted. Then he pulled it forcefully, earning him a painful growl from the snapper. "Ahaha! I got it!" he shouted victoriously clutching the stick on both his hands, only to forget to keep holding the snapper's head. The snapper felt the pain on its foot leaving, it also felt the human's hands leaving its head. 

Ao also saw this, "Milan!" he shouted, but it was too late, the snapper snapped its mouth towards his friend's head. "NOOO!" he cried. 

Ming put her paws on her muzzle, terrified at what she was seeing. _'No!'_ she thought.

The Gumon and the owl were both open-mouthed at what they were witnessing, "Damn dude. That guy is going to get his face ripped off!" the owl shouted to his friend. 

"Yeah." The Gumon replied, who couldn't take his eyes away from the scene. 

Ao was furious, this creature killed his friend. Now he was going to take revenge by killing it as well. "DIE!" He shouted, and rushed towards the snapper intent on killing it. 

When Milan finally noticed that his hands were no more holding the snapper's head back, it was already too late. The snapper quickly took its chance and bit his head. _'This is it, I'm going to die! '_ he thought, realizing that his friends would be too late to stop the snapper from snapping his head off, Milan closed his eyes and waited for death. 

Only to receive one heck of a lick for his troubles.' _What the heck! '_ he thought, he then felt the snapper lick his whole face again, ' _Are you being serious right now!'_ he thought to himself, suddenly he heard Ao's muffled shout. Realizing that his entire head was still inside the thing's mouth, and seeing how that would look like outside, Milan forcefully pulled his head out from the snapper's mouth and shouted, "STOP!" 

Ao was both shocked and bewildered, "THE HECK!" he shouted, first he saw his friend getting mauled by a snapper, so in return, he would then kill it, but then his friend, who he thought was dead, suddenly pulled his perfectly unharmed head off the snappers gaping maw and shouted for him to stop. 

Eyes twitching in annoyance, Ao glared at his friend and shouted, "What in the name of Ori was that supposed to be!? 

Looking a bit chafed, Milan looked at his friend and slowly said, "Ummm… I don't know?" 

Ming, who was looking at the two, chose the moment to come near them and cleared her throat. "Guys," she interrupted. 

"What?" the two replied almost at the same time. 

Ming then pointed her paws towards the snapper that was still on top of Milan, which was currently waving its tail, eyes huge and tongue hanging out its mouth. 

"Mind telling me what happened?" She asked her friends. 

"That is what I wish to know as well," Ao replied, still pissed at Milan. 

"Umm… Let me check" Milan replied, he took a stick nearby and showed it to the snapper. "See this? Fetch!" Milan ordered. 

The snapper only looked at the stick being thrown away, it tilted its head and looked back at his savior. With a huge purr, it rolled down the ground showing its belly. 

"Oh wow…" the three remarked. 

"A… Belly scratch?" Milan was quite puzzled by the snapper's demeanor. But eventually scratched its belly. 

"Purr~" the snapper cooed, it seemed to like Milan's scratches that it suddenly fell asleep. 

"Umm... So… What now?" Milan asked, still scratching the snapper's belly. 

"What now? Keep It!" Ming exclaimed. 

Milan’s eyes widened after hearing this, “Keep it!” he shouted, “But, but, Ao!” he added, calling Ao for his own input. 

Eyes twitching in disbelief, Ao let out a huge sigh and said, "Well… It looks like it doesn't want you to leave" he replied pointing at the snapper's face. It woke up after hearing Milan ask his friends about what he'll do with it, its eyes were beady and filled with tears, and with a visible pout on its mouth, whining. 

_‘Shit, that’s cute!’_ Milan thought, trying furtively to escape the snapper’s cuteness. 

The other two creatures then interrupted the scene. 

"Umm. Is it alright now?" asked the owl. "I mean me and my friend would love to find out if it's okay now to leave!" he added. 

"What he said!" the gumon said, agreeing to his friend. 

Looking at them in anger, Ao shouted. "No! The two of you stay here. I still got some questions to ask." 

Putting their arms in the air, wings for the owl, the two nodded their heads and agreed. "Alright, Alright, we understand!" the gumon exclaimed. 

Ao then marched towards them and when he was in front of the two he asked, in an unfriendly tone, “Alright first off, why was there a stick on the snapper’s foot? Snappers are quite smart creatures so I don’t think that it would just step into something sharp without knowing it in the first place!?” 

Gulping, the owl fearfully replied, “Well… we might… have thrown sticks and stones at it? When we were searching for our treasure?”

“Great.” Ao muttered, he then continued his glare at the two and said, “Where are your weapons anyway?”

The two then swiveled their heads away from Ao and the gumon shyly muttered, “We don’t have one.” 

Raising his eyebrow, Ao asked, “What do you mean, you don’t have one?” 

Meeting his gaze, the owl then answered his question, “He meant what he said, we don’t have weapons.” 

Ao was taken aback by the answer, _‘This two, went inside the Dark Forest, with no means of defending themselves?!’_ he thought. Shaking his head in disbelief, Ao then said, “Right, what the hell were you two thinking anyway? Trying to find a treasure in the Dark Forest is not only a fool's work but it could also lead to your deaths!” he said, glaring at the two cowering individuals. “Especially if you have no means of defending yourselves!”

Gulping in fear, the owl looked at Ao and slowly replied, "Sorry, sir... We.. we wanted to see if the treasure map that we bought was real... But it seems... It seems... We've been swindled... Again." 

Eyes twitching, Ao put his paws on his forehead and started massaging it, trying to ease the headache he is feeling. Looking at the two, Ao then replied, “You guys do know that treasure maps, especially ones that you can just buy, are usually fake right?” he asked. In the background Milan is seen wrestling with an overly snuggly snapper.

Blushing, the gumon nodded his head and quietly replied, “Yeah, we do.” 

The owl saw his friend’s saddened demeanor, putting his wings on him. He then said to Ao, “We really wanted to believe that the treasure map was real, but, I guess it’s just a fool's hope.” 

Ming, who had joined them while the owl was talking, then asked, “What do you need the treasure for anyway?” 

Nodding his head in agreement, Ao also asked this question, “Yeah, what for?” 

Blushing, the gumon looked at the two and said, “We wanted to test ourselves if we’re capable of becoming adventurers by searching for a treasure.” he said, scratching his head bashfully. 

"Right, and you think that endangering yourselves is the best way to do it?" Ao asked incredulously at the two. 

“We didn’t actually plan the whole event and we kinda just, go with it.” the gumon replied, laughing woefully. 

“And we didn’t exactly expect to encounter a snapper in the forest!” the owl announced, rubbing his wings. 

Sighing, Ming then told them, “You should be thankful that it was a snapper you’ve met, not something far more dangerous, or you wouldn’t be here at all!” she said. 

Looking at the two, Ao then asked them, "What are your names anyway?" 

The two, who were curious about the quick change of subject, introduced themselves. "My name is Gon," the gumon said, he then pointed at his friend and said, "And this is my adopted brother Kwago," he said, introducing his brother. 

Waving his wings, Kwago said, “Hey guys.” 

Nodding his head, Ao then introduced himself and his friends. “My name is Ao,” he said, he then pointed at Ming and said, “This is Ming,” and then towards Milan, who was still wrestling with the snuggly snapper, “And the human over there who's being squished by the snapper is Milan.” He finished. 

Ao then looked at the two and said, in a dark voice. “And you guys should be thankful that I’m currently in a good mood or else.” eyes shining in fury, he looked at each of them and said, “I’d be forced to, teach you guys why going outside dangerous places without protection is as stupid and deadly as it can get.” 

Gulping in fear, the two raised their hands, wings in Kwago’s part, and both replied, “We’re sorry, it's not going to happen again! Please don’t kill us!” they cried in unison. 

Ming, who had heard all of this, elbowed Ao and whispered, “What was that for?” 

“What do you mean, what was what for?” Ao whispered back, “Scaring them! Why would you do that?” Ming whispered back, “Right, it so that they could put it on their noggins how dangerous their stunt was!” Ao whispered back, “By scaring them!?” Ming whispered incredulously, and the two proceeded to argue while whispering at each other. 

Meanwhile, Milan was having a hard time with the snapper, who seems to have grown a liking towards him enough that it would be willing to sit on him and keep him warm like he was its hatchling. Currently, he was trying to get the snapper off of him after it managed to tackle him down, again, for the fifth time. "Please, can you let go? I really mean it!" he shouted, his voice a bit muffled from being under the snapper. 

The snapper only snorted and planted itself firmly on the ground. “Hur, hur, hur,” it replied. 

Losing hope, Milan just went ballistic and started punching the snapper. “Let me go or I’ll keep punching!” he shouted, trying to get the snapper of him.

The snapper only snorted more and just let Milan punch it, absorbing each punch like a sponge. 

Getting tired, Milan stopped his assault and just stopped moving altogether, accepting his warm and snugly faith. "Fine! You win! You can come with me now!" he shouted. 

The snapper immediately jumped off Milan after hearing those words. _‘Huh, Hallelujah!’_ Milan thought, and stood up, patting himself free of dirt. While the snapper immediately started walking in circles, shaking its tail and its tongue hanging out, looking at Milan in pure joy. “I guess I don’t have a choice but to keep you huh?” Milan asked. 

The snapper’s only reply was to rub itself on Milan, gaining a laugh from the flustered human. “Right, I’ll take that as a yes.” 

Meanwhile, back to Ming and Ao who were clearly still bickering at each other, the two other individuals with them could only scratch their heads in disbelief. “Umm, should we stop them?” Kwago asked his friend, “What do you mean to stop them? It’s just getting better!” Gon answered back to his friend, he then pointed his spindly hands towards the two bickering creatures and said, “Look!” 

"As I said, It's important for people to realize their mistake by punishing them!" Ao whispered a bit angrily at Ming, "Yes, but it doesn't mean that you should threaten them with death!" Ming whispered back, equally angry at Ao. Ao incredulously whispered back, "Threaten them with death? It's a joke, Ming!"

"Well, it doesn't sound like a joke to me!" Ming argued back. 

"Alright, that's it! I'm stopping this." Kwago suddenly said, marching to the two who seemed to be ready to tear each other a new one. "Um, excuse me!" he shouted when the two didn't hear him the first time, he shouted again, this time a bit louder, "EXCUSE ME!", still no reaction, _‘Right, third time’s a charm.’_ puffing his chest, filling it with air, the owl then let out a loud screech, “ **EXCUSE ME!** ” his screech seems to be quite effective as Ao and Ming immediately stopped bickering, though they were now clutching their ears in pain. 

“What heck was that for!” shouted Ao, his hearing a bit muffled from the demonic screeching. 

“Owy that hurts!” Ming cried, clutching her ears like Ao. 

Blushing a bit, Kwago put his wings on his head and said, “Sorry, it’s the only thing I could think of that would stop you two from fighting each other.” 

Gon, who was also affected by his friend’s unnatural screeching, slapped Kwago on the head and said, “What the heck K!” and proceeded to shake his friend in anger. 

“Sorry, sorry!” Kwago replied. “I promise I’m not doing that again!” he shouted, a bit disoriented from his friend's angry shaking. 

Milan and the snapper then chose the time to interrupt the four. “Sup!” Milan said, waving his left hand in a greeting. The snapper followed suit, doing exactly what Milan was doing, “Hur, hur!” it said. 

Ao’s eyes were twitching in disbelief, “Great, now there's two of them!” he then looked sharply at Ming and said, “Why did I agree to keep that snapper in the first place again?”

Putting her tongue out, Ming proudly replied, “Cause I told you so!” 

"So are you guys done now?" Milan asked, looking at them. He then pointed at the towering spire and said, "Cause I'm quite excited to see that giant Spire up close." He said, then his stomach started rumbling, "Oh and because I'm quite hungry and we don't have any rations anymore." he added.

“What happened to our food?” Ao asked, “I thought we packed enough to last us five days!” he added. 

Milan just pointed at the snapper by his side and said, “She ate it. All of it.” 

Mouth open wide, Ao could only look incredulously at his friend. “She ate it! Wait **she**?” he asked. 

Nodding his head, Milan answered, “Yeah she…” Blushing he then continued, “I kinda asked her what her gender was by telling her to nod her head if the answer is yes and shaking it if it's a no, and she kind of nodded her head when I asked if she was female.” 

"Oh, that is so great!" Ming suddenly exclaimed, and quickly took off towards the snapper, hugging her and squishing her in joy. "Now there's two of us!" 

Ao and Milan sweatdropped from seeing this, "What did we unleash?" Ao asked, "I don't know, but I don't like it." Milan answered back. And the two proceeded to quietly step out of the scene. 

Gon and Kwago were both taken aback, “What is going on here?” asked Kwago, “Hell if I know!” answered Gon. And like Ao and Milan, slowly stepped out of the scene. 

“We’re going to be best friends!” Ming shouted, still cuddling the astonished snapper. 

Afterward, Ming then noticed that everything seems to be quieter than usual. Opening her eyes and looking around her, she noticed that the others were gone and only she and the snapper were left. "Wuh… where are the others?" she asked herself, then the snapper took the chance to free herself from Ming's hug and ambled upfront towards the road to the capital. "Hey now! Come back!" Ming shouted, urging the snapper to return and started following her. 

In the distance, Ao and the others were hurrying their way towards the Capital. 

* * *

  
  


When the group finally arrived in the Capital they were blown away from the sheer grandeur of the place, well Ao and Milan were, seeing that Ming and the two others, lived in this place. 

“This place is so amazing!” Milan cried, his snapper by his side, curiously looking at the place, huffing and drooling. 

“Yeah, It is!” Ao said, "Its buildings are even bigger than I imagined!” he added, amazed by the architecture of the place. 

The Capital was a beauty to behold, huge cobblestone walls lined each side, ensuring utmost protection from the weather and other forces, the streets are made of red clay, each building of the city sports various designs from flamboyant glass windows and artistic masonries to the far more normal-looking buildings, all of them built on stones and metal, with a few wooden ones in between. Overall the Capital itself screams of a modern city.

Ao and Milan were both flabbergasted by what they were seeing. So much that it took Ming three times, just to gather their attention. 

“Guys!” she shouted the third time. “What?” Ao and Milan asked, curious about what she wanted to say. 

Shaking her head in exasperation, she looked at the two and said, “Come on, I’ll show you guys to my house.” She then started walking towards the right path, leading to a far more rural part of the city. “Come on guys!” she beckoned her friends. 

Blinking, Ao just shrugged his shoulders and followed Ming. Milan joined him after a few moments, with Gon and Kwago following as well. 

Eyebrows raised, Milan then asked Gon and Kwago, “Umm, what are you guys doing?” 

“Following you guys of course!” Gon answered, “Yep!” Kwago added. 

“You guys know that you're both free to go right? I mean, we're back in the city. And you both live here.” Milan said, petting his snapper who is walking alongside him. 

“That’s right, we live here! That is why we're following you guys!” Kwago replied. 

"Right, well just… follow then," Milan uttered, wishing not to start another argument. 

Smiling, Gon and Kwago did just that and followed Milan. 

_‘Great, wonder what Ao’s going to think?_ ’ he sarcastically thought to himself, imagining his friend’s face when he sees the two following him. 

His snapper seems to sense his feelings and she started purring and walked closer to him. Smiling, Milan delightfully said, "Thanks girl." to which the snapper replied by purring more intensely. 

Laughing, Milan then said, “I really need a name for you.” 

The snapper looked at him happily and licked her eyes with her long tongue along with a small croak escaping from its throat. "Cute and disgusting never thought I'd see that together," Milan said. 

Meanwhile, at the front, Ao and Ming were having their own conversation. "So, how long have you lived here?" Ao asked, looking at every building that they pass by in their walk.

Ming looked at Ao and replied, “Lived here since the day I was born!” 

“Really?” Ao asked.

“Yup!” Ming answered.

"Cool, wonder how it would have felt growing up in this city!" Ao said, looking around and seeing all the people busy doing stuff. "I mean, it never seems to be monotony here! And all people are actually doing something!" 

Smiling, Ming agreed with Ao's observation. "Yup, never a dull day in the Capital." She then looked at Ao and asked, "Though if I may ask, why do you think that it's cool to live here?" she said, "Have you not told us that back in your home everything is great?" she added.

Shaking his head slowly, Ao looked at Ming and said, "Yeah, it is, all the food you can eat, no fighting over resources, all the friendly people, and just everything that you'd need to survive and thrive is in there, all for free. But that's it… that's where it all ends. It's all constant monotony that sometimes, you'll just have to wonder what it would feel to live in a place where not everything is abundant and you have to work hard for you to get what you want!" 

“Wow, so you left your home cause you think that having everything given to you at no costs doesn’t seem right?” Ming inquired. 

Ao nodded his head and said, “Yes.” 

“But why?” Ming further inquired. 

Smiling at her, Ao pointed at a family of ducks and said, “Let me ask you, do you think those ducks survive because everything is given to them? Or do they survive because they have to get it themselves?”

A bit lost from Ao’s words, Ming shook her head and said, “What do you mean?”

Laughing a bit, Ao answered, "Well, take this for an example, if I were a person, and I live in a place, which is my home, where everything from food to shelter are all free and abundant, what would you think would happen to me?" he said, Ming tilted her head in response and stood silently

"I'd be lazy, and dependent on those resources, I would not need to think hard, because everything I need is already easy to reach, and I would not survive if all those things suddenly vanish." Ao finished. 

Finally understanding where her friend was coming from, Ming said, “So, you left your home because you don’t want to be so dependent on it, that you would not be able to survive if things go down? Is that it?” she asked, genuinely wishing to know the answer. 

"More or less, I just don't want to be so dependent on my home, I want to be a spirit guardian who is capable of being free and knows a lot of ways to survive, even without my home's light watching me, guiding me," Ao answered. 

"Wow, that is just… noble of you Ao," Ming said, smiling at her friend, and feeling happy and proud towards Ao 

Blushing from the compliment, Ao rubbed his head and jokingly said, “Well, I try my best to impress!” 

The duo proceeded in a laughing fit afterward, laughing in merriment and joy. 

* * *

Somewhere in a dark, cold, rat-infested dungeon, a man in chains, was suddenly awakened by the sound of someone entering the place. 

Breathing cold air the man opened his eyes and looked around his cell, seeing nothing but endless darkness only broken by the few torches lining the walls outside his cell. Feeling his hands numbed by the cold, and the bruises, the man then stood up from his cot and sat down in a chair facing a desk. Taking a jug of water, the man drank it greedily and gulped the entire content in one go. 

Suddenly he heard someone clearing their throat outside his cell. "The emperor wishes to see you." The man, a guard by the armor, gruffly told him. 

The man didn't answer, instead, he spits out saliva in front of the guard, smiling, showing his yellowed teeth, the man then offers his hands to be chained. 

The guard, who was angered by the disrespectful man, shoved his way inside his cell and chained the man, forcefully. 

The man grunted in a bit of pain but still didn't say a word. "You should be thankful that I'm in a good mood as of now! Or I'll cut your tongue from your mouth for disrespecting me!" the guard angrily threatened, shoving the man outside his cell towards his two compatriots, who were both waiting outside, and immediately put a collar in the man and started pulling him towards where the emperor was waiting. 

A few moments later, they arrived in a corridor with one room in the middle, opening the door, the first guard then let himself in and announced to the person sitting in the middle, “The captive my lord!” 

Waving his hand, the emperor dismissed the guard, “You may leave, and take your men with you.” he said, in an empty voice.

The guard, who was surprised by the sudden breach of protocol, voiced his reaction, “But my lord, we--” before he could finish, the emperor again, waved his hand and said, “Have you no trust in your emperor, guardsman?” he asked. 

“I do my lord, but protocol dictates--” the guard started, but again he was stopped by the emperor. 

“I know the protocols guardsman, and I also know that if you tarry longer, your head may yet find itself in a basket!” the emperor said, his patience running low. 

Eyes widening from the threat, the guard quickly made a bow, “I shall see myself outside, my lord.” he said and quickly went out the door. He then glared at the chained man and said, “You in” 

Smiling the man walked inside the room but not before he was stopped by the guard. “Do anything in there that may endanger the emperor, and your head is mine!” the guard threatened.

“Don’t worry, I won’t.” the man answered, surprising the guards from hearing him talk, and hearing his rough voice for the first time. 

The man then let himself in and quickly seated in an empty chair. “I hope they haven’t given you a hard time.” the emperor said, looking at the man all over. 

Snorting, the man replied, “If putting chains on me and threatening to behead me is a hard time, then I don’t know.” 

The emperor then stood up from his seat and said, “Then why not take your chains off?” 

The man only smiled at this and said, "Who said they aren't off?" and proceeded to show his hands-free of the chains.

The emperor then took something from his robe and said, “I have a job for you.” and offered the man a piece of paper. 

The man eyed the piece of paper and asked, “What is it for me?” 

The emperor looked at the man and said, “Your freedom.”

Breathing hard followed with a deep chuckle, the man took the folded paper from the emperor’s hand and asked, “What do you want me to do?” 

The emperor didn't immediately answer, instead he seated himself again and took a sip from his cup, then he looked at the man and answered. “Read it. And you’ll know of your task.” 

The man opened the paper and read the contents. His eyes widened after he read it and he looked back at the emperor.

Smiling, the emperor then said, “As you can see, I may have some few problems. And as I can see that you’re the only man I know capable of doing this job, I simply asked for your help.”

The man then put his hands down on the table and glared at the emperor. “There’s something else, something else you're not telling me.” the man said. 

The emperor only waved his hands and said, “You do not need to know those things. Now would you accept this offer? Or would you wish to return to your cell to rot?”

The man straightened himself up and said, “I will take it.”

The emperor smiled after hearing those words and said, “Good, give this to the guards and they will lead you into the armory, oh and before that, I think you’d need a good bath and a brush.” the emperor said, handing the man a piece of paper containing the emperor’s seal. 

Nodding his head, the man then went outside the room and gave the guards the piece of paper. The guards grumbled and took the paper and led the man upstairs, out of the dungeon to be taken care of. 

While the emperor was left inside the room, sipping his tea. “What do you think? Aiska?” he asked. 

Then, out in a corner, a creature suddenly appeared, forming from the shadows, it opened its eyes showing nothing but red glowing pupils, and answered the emperor. "We shall see if the man can do what he has been commanded, Master." 

Laughing a little bit, the emperor beckoned the creature to sit on the empty chair, “Please, Aiska, join me for tea.” He said.

And the creature did what it was told and stepped out in the darkness, seating itself in the empty chair where the man once sat, it took an empty cup and waited for the emperor to fill it with tea, after it was filled, the creature took a pint of sugar and added it, mixing its tea and took a sip. 

"Your tea is great as the usual master." the creature said, complimenting the emperor. 

"Oh hush now, Aiska. I know my skills in brewing tea," he replied, then he set his cup back on the table and asked the creature. "So, my beloved, tell me again of this guardian that you've met?” 

After hearing those words the creature let out a deep angry hiss and said, “Vermin, nothing but a vermin!” 

“Now, now, you said that he managed to beat you in battle, maybe we could use him perhaps?” the emperor said. 

Glaring at him, Aiska then started screaming, “Use him? Use that vermin? Am I not enough? Have I not given you everything? Have I not killed enough thousands for you?! Master?!” and tears suddenly poured out its red eyes. 

The emperor took off from his seat and went to embrace the screaming creature, “Hush now my dear, I meant to use him as a means to hunt our enemies not to replace you.” he slowly said, while caressing the creature's face. 

“Do you mean that?” the creature asked. 

“Yes,” the emperor answered. And proceeded to kiss the creature deeply and sensually. 

"Mmmm" the creature cried in pleasure. It then broke the kiss and said, "Master? May we?" it asked. 

Laughing the emperor replied, “Yes my dear, yes.” and proceeded to kiss the creature again. 

The guards outside could only scratch their heads when they started to hear grunting inside the room. Thinking that the emperor was at it again with his pet. "Man, I wonder how it feels." one of the stationed guards said. 

“What do you mean?” the other guard asked. 

The guard then looked at his companion and said, “Just forget about it.” 

Shaking his head, the other guard just returned back in guarding the entrance to the chambers. All the while listening to grunts of pain and pleasure emanating inside. 

* * *

  
  


**And done! I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter of the second arc! This story took me a particularly long time to make, I had to disregard three planned scenes to make way with new ones, I do hope you guys enjoyed this one.**

**Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps belong to Moon Studios and Xbox Game Studios/Microsoft Studios.**

**This story belongs to me and Yuuni Hana.**

**Editor sis moment:**

**Hey there! How's life? Hope it's good to you right now, if it's not give it a little pet in the head maybe it'll be more docile and who knows it might just work out 😉 best regards to you reader!**


	9. Magicka and Family

**Sorry for taking so long updating this work, it has been a busy few months and stuffs happened. But I'm back with a new chapter so hooraay!"  
  
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this one as much as I enjoyed making it. UwU**

* * *

Inside a blue house, up in the spare bedroom, a spirit guardian is found sleeping soundly. He was currently in the midst of a dream, a dream of adventure. 

* * *

_‘Ye think yer won already, hah!” a man shouted, wearing a shabby 17th century coat, a feathered tricorne adorning his head, and an eye patch on his left eye. He was a pirate, but not just any pirate, he’s a pirate captain. And he is pointing his cutlass towards Ao, who was himself, wearing a privateer's coat._

_“Ye all ne’er learn, especially ye Capt’n Fleck!” Ao shouted, glaring at the captain all the whilst preparing his body for action, swaying his cutlass thru and fro, and moving sideways._

_They were at the deck of Captain Fleck’s ship, the Wide Dove, it's a privateers ship turned pirate, decked throughout its hull were cannons standing side by side, and located on the front, is a giant mortar, capable of laying waste to any far off location the captain wishes to attack, and Ao’s current mission. As he was tasked by the Navy to track down Captain Fleck and his ship, and destroy the mortar held within. He managed to track down the ship by asking in a local tavern in one of the islands the Captain and his crew frequented, he even managed to overhear a plan of attacking a nearby plantation and ransacking the place clear of goods and coins, a plan that Ao was going to stop._

_“Ye think ya could go away with’ot the nav’y find’ng out ye bus’ness Capt’n? Let me tell ye then! The nav’y ain’t just go’ng skedaddlin around, whilst ye and yer pirates raid and pillage innocent men!”_

_Captain Fleck couldn't help it any longer and bursted out laughing, “Ya hear the patch of pelt boys! Ye want us to up and surrender to ye and ye’s nav’y!” and the crew joined the captain on his rambunctious laughter._

_Smirking, Ao let the captain and his men laugh their hearts out, unbeknownst to them, Ao was already charging up a light burst, “Ha! Ye and yer men know not of wha’s comin Capt’n!” and let loose his overcharged light burst, shaking the ship by the blast and taking off anyone who was standing and reclining on the edges of the ship’s hull._

_Captain Fleck himself was thrown away by quite a distance, only stopping when his back hit the wood of the ship's hull. “Arrr! Ya scurvy landlubber ye!” Fleck shouted, arching his back from pain, breathing hard, he spits out some saliva mixed with blood and forces himself to stand, grabbing on the ship's deck railings. Taking his cutlass the captain then charged towards the guardian, glutural shouting accompanying his charge._

_Grining, Ao summoned his own cutlass and charged towards the captain, his movements mirroring those of his enemy. They clashed at the middle of deck, their swords sparkling upon impact, Ao swerved to the left as the captain slashed his cutlass, almost cutting Ao’s head of, Ao returned the favor by kicking the captain away and doing a barrel roll, catching the captain off guard and struck on his hand, taking his metal hook off and throwing it away._

_“Yarrr!! Hahaha! It seems me still hav’e me skills in fightin capt’n!” Ao cried in exaltation, spinning his cutlass on the air. “Ye still draw breath Capt’n?” he taunted, then he stopped spinning his cutlass and moved his body into a ready position, “Rea’dy to gi’ve up?”_

_Face colored red in anger, Captain Fleck pointed his cutlass at the cocky guardian and shouted, “Ye dare make a mockery of me! Ya scurvy landlubber!”_

_Eyes full of conviction, Ao smiled and simply replied, “Ay!”_

_Without warning, the two combatants charged yet again, all the while the remaining crew, those who weren't thrown away from Ao’s light burst, watched in awe and fear as they saw their captain fight an enemy that was slowly beating him._

_“Yer strong for a human!” Ao taunted, as he evaded a blow coming his way by moving to the side, letting the cutlass pass by him. He then swerved into the right away from the captain and swung his own cutlass, almost hitting the captain from the back, only for Captain Fleck to sidestep and counter the attack by blocking it and throwing a punch, which connected on Ao’s guts._

_Staggered by the blow, Ao fell back and took a breath, ‘Ye do good on that one ey capt’n?” he asked, smiling, Ao then stood straight again and took a charge against the captain._

_“Ye! I be good at this!” Captain Fleck shouted, and blocked Ao’s cutlass with his own. The ensuing fight was one for the books, as neither contenders let out in the constant barrage of swings and slashes, defending themselves using their cutlasses and taunting each other like proper pirates. The captain’s men were even so engrossed with the ensuing battle that they had already forgotten to help. The fight took longer than expected and brought with it an almost untold amount of broken woods and barrels, as well as ropes and ballast. They both fought within the deck, trading blows and swings, they fought upon the ships sails, slowly balancing themselves upon the wood, and they fought within the ships ropes that was holding the pole in which the sails are connected, angling themselves vertically and trading blows of words rather than swords, and the finally, after almost a stalemate, Ao managed to hit the captain on his left thigh, puncturing it and taking the captain down in pain._

_“Yaaarrrgghh!” Captain Fleck cried, as he put his hands on his punctured thigh trying to stop the bleeding. “Bloody me thighs are bleeding scallywags!” the captain cried, glaring at his men who were still as statues after seeing their beloved captain lose against a pirate turned privateer._

_Ao was heaving for breath, but his muzzle was covered in a smile, as he looked down upon the bleeding captain, joyful that he managed to beat one of the most feared pirates in the seas. Taking his cutlass, Ao slowly walked towards his mission, the Mortars, all the while, the captain’s men finally shook out of their bewilderment and rushed to their captain’s aid, while Captain Fleck was sprouting obscene words towards the victorious spirit guardian._

_As Ao walked along the deck towards the bow of the ship, where the mortars are located, he felt the ship rocking more than normal, looking at the horizon, Ao saw that the blue skies was slowly turning black, the wind was picking up and turning colder, then suddenly, a massive creature came out of the sea, “Avast! Such a giant crittin!” Ao exclaimed, jumping back in surprise as the sea monster entangled its huge tentacles upon the ship, it was a kraken._

_The crew was in panic as the saw the huge sea monster emerge from the ocean, some were so afraid that they chose to jump overboard, while others took arms in the hopes to fell the beast away from the ship and into their doom, as the monster simply flicked them over like a man would do to a fly. Captain Fleck was looking in awe and fear at the monster, as it fully showed its form, a grotesque combination between an octopus and a squid, two monstrously huge eyes, and one giant maw, full of sharp serrated teeth. Ao himself was in deep awe and fear, and just like the captain, he was fully taken aback when the creature finally showed its form._

_“Ye be seeing this Capt’n? He asked, as he slowly stepped back away from the ever encroaching tentacles of the giant monster._

_“Me be no blind ya scallywag! Me be seeing the beast as well!” Captain Fleck shouted, then he reached for his cutlass and shouted again towards the spirit guardian, “Now, ye be help this ol’ capt’n and we both can escape from this monster!”_

_Raising his eyebrow in suspicion, Ao looked at the captain and told him, “Now what makes ye think me be helpin ya?”_

_“Ya fool! We both be dead if ye leave me alone!” Captain Fleck exclaimed, face turning red from anger towards the foolish guardian._

_Glaring at the captain, Ao just turned his head and refocused his attention upon the monster, who has now fully revealed itself. “Damn creature.” he said, then without hesitation, he turned back and ran, fetching Captain Fleck on his way._

_The Captain let out an audible ‘oof’ as he was suddenly tackled by the spirit guardian, his cutlass flying away after he lost hold of it. “Ye fool! Me cu’lass!” he shouted, as he found himself being carried by the guardian on his back._

_“Ye shou’d be than’ful capt’n! Me could have left you behind!” Ao shouted back, as he ran away from the monster and off the ship, which was slowly being destroyed by the raging beast, he even managed to evade a plank flying his way after the monster struck it with its gargantuan tentacles. “Blimey! Tha’ was close!” Captain Fleck shouted._

_“Let us hope that it would be the last then!” Ao screamed, then after evading another splintered plank, and running away from a nasty death by being squished by a huge tentacle, Ao finally saw the border of the ship and without hesitation ran towards it, “Lad, what are ye thinkin!” the captain asked, as he saw them both nearing the ships edges. Smiling, Ao replied, “Jumpin Capt’n!” Then he threw both himself and the captain off towards the raging water._

_“Curse ye lad!” Captain Fleck shouted, as he plummeted down below to the ocean._

_“Yer safe now! What else do you want?” Ao shouted, who was also plummeting down below, but before he could even touch the ocean surface, he transformed into his eagle form. “Until next them then Capt’n Fleck!” he squawked, and with a burst of wings, flew away from the ocean, the broken ship, and the kraken, leaving the Captain shouting profanity in his wake._

* * *

  
  


Ao was suddenly awakened from his nice dream, opening his eyes, he blearily looked around, seeing that he was in a room colored in pink, his memories from before suddenly returned, reminding him of the reason why he is here. “Of course, Ming invited us over in her house to rest,” he mumbled, then he noticed that he wasn’t wearing his armor any longer, blinking, Ao looked around and found his armor sitting near a desk which was full of documents with a flower pot planted on its left side, giving it a beautiful, yet simple decor. 

“How did that get there?” He asked himself, and shook his body awake, he then threw his warm sheets away and stood up, stretching his body to further awaken himself, then he carefully tidied up the bed, folding the sheet nice and tidy, and slowly making sure that it was clean from his fur, _'Don't want to leave any of my furs behind,'_ he thought, as he slowly rechecked the sheets for any furs still left, _'Besides, it's a good bed.'_ his thoughts added, then afterward when he was finished cleaning and tidying up the bed, he went into the mirrors and checked himself. Ao smiled as he saw himself in the mirror, his coat was it's ever pristine white, his blue eyes show life and attentiveness and his form is quite dashing to look at, “Looking great there, handsome.” he said to himself in the mirror, then he clicked his tongue and pointed to his image. Afterward, he went and wore his armor and went outside of the room. 

When he finally managed to go outside, he saw the hallway leading towards the other rooms of the floor, empty. “I guess everyone is downstairs now,” he said to himself, deciding to go downstairs as well, Ao took a leisurely pace, swiveling his head and looking around the hallway, trying to memorize the lovely house, and looking at the decors that he failed to see last night. 

“Ming really does have a beautiful home,” he mumbled, a smile then painted his face when he saw a picture of a family of Moki, all smiling back towards him. He stopped for a moment and looked at it, seeing the family being depicted sitting around a beautiful green park, both of the parents were sitting on picnic cloth, preparing foods, while the three children were seen running around, flying a kite. Ao was so deep into the picture that he didn’t notice someone coming near his back. 

Clearing their throat, the individual then said, “It’s beautiful isn't it?” Ming said.

Jumping a bit, Ao swiveled around and smiled at Ming, who was looking at him with a smile on her own face, “Yeah, sorry about that!” Ao said, laughing to himself for not noticing his friend immediately and scratching his head for his mistake.

Ming smiled at Ao, and said, “Don’t... You don’t need to.” Then she took his paws and led him down the stairs into the kitchens. 

While walking, Ao couldn’t help but wonder, where was her family? He was so consumed by this that he couldn't help himself but ask this question. “So, where are they?” he mumbled, a bit scared for her reaction.

Ming, who was happily walking along with him, whose paws were still intertwined with hers’s hummed, “Hmm, what do you mean?” she asked, looking towards her friend’s eyes.

"Your family, where are they?” Ao asked.

Ming suddenly stopped walking and she turned her head away, looking at the ground, her paws clenching Ao’s a little bit stronger. Ao noticed the sudden change of behavior and berated himself, _‘Dammit Ao, look at what you did!’_ he thought. Without further hesitation, Ao took Ming in an embrace and whispered to her ears, “It’s alright, you don’t need to tell me if you don’t want to” 

Ming, who was debating on herself, of whether she should tell Ao or not, was taken aback by the sudden embrace, she was more touched, and a bit miffed, when Ao whispered those words to her. Letting out a sigh, she gently pushed him away and smiled at him, showing her appreciation for his words. “It’s okay, I’m fine.” she said, then she put her paws on his face and said, “Besides, I want to tell you… But not today… okay?” she said, looking like she was slowly going to burst into tears.

Ao smiled at her and nodded, wiping some of her loose tears, he then took her paws and led her downstairs.

* * *

Milan was absorbed reading his new book, learning new stuff and studying general Magicka, “Huh, so when I use Magicka I use my soul energy?” he mumbled, his snapper, who he aptly named Snips, was peacefully sleeping alongside his chair where he was currently sat upon, “What’s Magicka anyway?” he asked no one in particular, and then his question was suddenly answered by a voice he recognized immediately, “Magicka is the life force of every being in this world, it's part of our souls, the one that gives the energy and life that is needed to keep surviving.” Ao answered his friend, smiling from the stairs, all the while Ming was seen giggling to herself.

Milan smiled upon seeing his friend awake and greeted him, “Morning Buddy!” he said, he then looked at the giggling Ming and shook his head, looking back at his friend, who was now approaching him, Milan asked, “What do you mean about _‘Lifeforce?’_ ” 

When Ao was near enough, he put his paws on his hips and answered hi friend's inquiry, “life force, is as it says, the energy that is giving life to all that exists, every being on this world, from the smallest of ants to the largest beast, has a life force, in this life force, our consciousness, as well as our souls, are contained, some creatures, like for example, my kind, can harness this life force and use it to our will.” 

Milan was further intrigued after hearing this and asked his friend, “So, when you use your light, your tapping into your life force?” 

Nodding his head, Ao confirmed his friend’s assumption, “Yes”

Milan was now standing away from his comfortable seat, and Snips had finally been fully awake and was purring in content as Ming scratched her chin. He then took his friend’s paws and kneeled so that he was the same height as his friend, then he asked Ao, “Can you teach me how to use mine?”

Blushing a bit, Ao chuckled to his friend and answered, “Sure, if you're up to it, mind you, I’m not that good at teaching, so you have to help me as well.”

Smiling from ear to ear, Milan whooped and jumped around, all the while laughing and chanting, “I’m going to learn how to use Magicka!” Ming was openly laughing at his childish display, Ao was scratching his head in embarrassment, while Snips was just looking at her human thinking to herself, _‘What is stickman doing? He be jumping like he’s trying to find a mate.’_ then Snips had an epiphany, _‘Stickman is jumping, maybe he wishes to mate with the small white one!’_

Thankfully, her thoughts were left unnoticed by the three other creatures with her. 

Suddenly, Gon peeked from the doors of the kitchen and called to them, “Yo legends! Meals are cooked!” he announced, then he turned away and returned to help his brother in preparing the dishes.

Ao raised his eyebrow and sighed, he then looked towards his friends and saw them looking at him with grins on their faces, “What?” he asked.

Giggling, Ming shook her head and replied, “Nothing,” and then she took off towards the kitchen, calling both Ao and Milan to come along with her, “Come on guys!” she shouted.

Milan laughed at this and winked to his friend, who was still curious about the reason for their grin. “Really guys why were you grinning at me?” he asked, briskly walking alongside his two friends, who didn’t answer him and instead just rolled their eyes and continued walking. A bit miffed, Ao just shook his head and said, “Fine, don’t tell me then, I’ll just find out later.”

And the group continued towards the kitchen, and when they arrived they saw that Gon and Kwago overdid themselves, in front of them were variations of food, all smelling good and look appetizing. “Wow, guys! You just overdid it!” Ming exclaimed as she saw all the delicious foods lining the table, blushing, Kwago scratched his head and answered, “Well, I and bro loves to cook and we decided to show you guys how much we appreciate your help last day.” Gon nodded his head, confirming what his brother said. 

Grumpily, Ao looked at the two and said, “So you two decided to overdo your cooking so you could say thank you to us?” he asked, crossing his arms in suspicion, “You two aren’t buttering us up for something are you?” he said, looking at the two suspiciously. He then felt an elbow on his ribs and let out a yelp from the pain, “How, the.” he cried, putting his paws on his ribs, which was covered with his armor. 

“Palm strike, it disregards any kind of armor or cover and directly hits the creature's flesh,” Ming answered, as she saw Ao looking at her dumbfoundedly. 

Then Milan suddenly said, “Wait was that Magicka?” he asked his friend all the while stars were painted over his eyes.

Smiling, Ming made a cute pose and answered, “Yup.”

“That hurt you know.” Ao grumpily said and ambled his way towards the nearest seat.

Giggling, Ming winked at him and made a cute bleeping face, she then followed suit when she noticed Ao was suddenly blushing all over his face, all the while Milan was still starstruck to see Ming perform Magicka in front of him. 

“You guys really need to teach me how to use my Magicka!” Milan cried out. Still starstruck by his friend’s abilities.

Sighing, Ming answered her excitable friend, “Later Milan, just as soon as we’re finished with our meal.”. Ao agreed and nodded his head, then he glared at the Owl and the Gumon looking at them and silently conveyed, ‘Nod your heads or you're both dead’, gulping, the two did just that and agreed upon Ming’s words.

“Aww, fine, but you guys promised!” Milan said, and then he was suddenly pushed into a seat near Ao by Snips, who was getting impatient, also because she wants to make sure that her ‘Stickman gets well together with the small white one.’ ‘Wonder what kind of offspring they will have?’ she wondered to herself, as she strolled her way on her designated spot.

* * *

After an eventful breakfast, with the group having fun talking to each other, and Snips acting all suspiciously. The group decided to go out to the market and purchase goods for their upcoming trip towards Milan’s home. 

“We really couldn't say this more than enough, but thank you, for your help yesterday.” Kwago said, as he gave a bow to the trio, all the while Gon was busy shaking each of their hands in respect, “What my bro said.”

“Aww, you guys don’t need to thank us, we just did what was right!” Ming answered as she shook Gon’s spindly arms in a carefree manner.

“What she said,” Milan answered as well, pointing his thumb towards the smiling Moki.

Ao on the other hand was just grumpily looking around, and he was not even trying to hide it. Ming noticed this and elbowed him again, using the same Magicka from before, but even before her elbow could connect, Ao suddenly vanished. “What the!” Ming exclaimed as she found herself slipping to the ground after she outbalanced herself from trying to elbow her friend, “Ming!” Milan and Gon both shouted and ran to save Ming from having a bad fall, only for Ao to suddenly reappear and catch her mid-fall. Gripping her waist, Ao smiled at his friend’s flabbergasted face, “Blink, the ability to disappear from reality momentarily, it's a good defense for when you’re about to get hit by a projectile and have nowhere to run,” he said, his voice low and deep.

Blushing, Ming then swiftly gave Ao a punch on the gut, catching him off guard by the swift strike. “Ooff!” Ao grunted in pain and clutched his stomach, letting go of Ming who then fell towards the ground, hurting herself in the process. Milan saw this and quickly went towards her, asking if she was okay all the while Ao was down on the ground as well, but he was laughing instead of being angry. 

“She's fine, bud.” Ao wheezed, as he tried to even his breathing and reign on the pain of his abdomen, “Though, she hits real good.” he added. And wheezed out laughing again.

Glaring at him, Milan then asked, “Why did you do that anyway? Suddenly up and vanishing and letting her fall down?” 

With his breathing evening out, and the pain in his abdomen all but gone, Ao stood up and said, “I didn’t let her fall.” Then he snapped his paws and a portal suddenly appeared from above him, with Ming falling down from it and straight towards Ao’s waiting arms. “Ooff!” Ming grunted, as she fell on Ao’s arms and feeling herself stopping from the fall.

Milan was clearly in great confusion and that was reflected both on his eyes as well as his posture, “But---how--!” he then looked back toward the other Ming, and found a doll staring at him. Jumping back from fright, Milan looked back at his friends and saw that Ming was already on her feet and was glaring towards Ao, who was looking guilty for his recent actions and was profusely asking for forgiveness from the miffed Moki.

“What was that!” Milan exclaimed, pointing back towards the doll that was once his friend.

Hearing their friend’s exclamation of shock, both Ao and Ming swerve their heads towards their friend. Smiling, Ao then answered, “It’s called illusions bud.” revealing the magic towards his awestruck friend.

“Illusions?” Milan asked.

“Mhm” 

“That can be done as well?” 

“Of course.” 

Then Ao smiled and winked towards his friend, “Want to learn it?” he asked.

Milan’s eyes were filled with stars and he was smiling ear to ear after he heard Ao’s offer, he swiftly took the guardian's paws surprising Ao with his speed, and said, “Yes! I want to learn how to do that!” 

Rolling her eyes after seeing her friends enthusiasm and how fast his attitude change after hearing the word illusion, Ming patted her sling bag and cleaned it off of dirt, after that, she refocused back towards her two friends and said, “Alright you two, that’s enough, we still need to go in the market.”

“Right,” Milan replied and nodded his head in agreement.

“Of course,” Ao said, all the while grinning at his Moki friend, who saw it and just let out a sigh of annoyance.

But before the three could leave towards the market, they were stopped by the gumon and the owl who was silently watching the exchange, as well as the illusions, happening.

“Wait!” shouted Gon, as he and his brother Kwago waved towards the leaving trio.

Eyes painted with annoyance, Ao looked back towards the running siblings and put his paws on his hips, he then sighed and said, “What do you guys want? We’re leaving.” 

Huffing from their run and taking in precious air, Kwago looked towards Ao and answered, “We, we want to come with you guys.”

Eyebrows raised in a questioning manner, Ao started to talk, only to get stopped by Ming, who also saw the siblings run towards them and heard them ask if they could come with them. 

“Of course you both could come with us!” she said, all the while glaring towards the miffed guardian to whom she elbowed in the chest to stop him from talking.

“Ouch” Ao silently muttered, rubbing his chest from the pain, ‘This is the second time she did that palm strike of hers, and how did she manage to do it on her elbow?’ Ao thought, wondering how Ming managed to use a palm strike with her elbow. 

Milan also came back towards them and agreed to have the siblings go with them. 

Beaten two to one, Ao just let out a sigh and agreed to take the two siblings, on a condition that they would help them in any way they can.

After that little event, the group then headed out towards the market, looking forward to buying things that they may need to continue their journey up north, back to Milan’s home.

* * *

“Disgusting.” A man quietly said to himself, after he saw a human and a Moki talking to each other happily, they were discussing simple things in life and the man overheard them talking about how their families are doing. “Simply disgusting.” he reiterated to himself.

Not wanting to further listen towards the conversation between the two, the man quickly took off towards the market, all the while smoking a cigar. “When would people learn that they shouldn’t mingle with those furry assholes? We’re humans, we should be enslaving them not befriending those beasts.” he silently muttered to himself, glaring back towards the two creatures who were now laughing together, “Really disgusting.” 

After a while of walking, the man finally arrived at the market, seeing more people interacting with the so-called beast, the man had no choice but to swallow his pride and ignore them, he had items to buy and a mission to finish. 

_‘Great, more furry lovers. My day just got better and better’_ thought the man, as he navigated through the streets filled with consumers and sellers. _‘I just need to buy myself a good weapon and I’ll be off. Away from this flea-ridden town.’_

Moving through the market and after making his way through an alleyway that leads to the east side of the market. The man finally saw a weaponsmith selling weapons and armor. Smiling and after checking his pocket to make sure that his money was still inside, the man walked towards the vendor, who to his chagrin, was a sentient bird. 

“Come all! Come all! See my weapons and armor! They are made from the finest of materials sold at the cheapest price!” shouted the vendor. The bird vendor then noticed the approaching man and waved his wings, “You! Come and see my weapons and armor! Choose what gets your fancy!” 

The man was disgusted with himself, _‘Great, to see others interacting with this beast is vomit-inducing enough, and for myself to do it, argh. Divines help me.’_ thought the man, and he did his best-smiling face and asked for a good set of swords and an armor that fits.

The vendor bird heard the man’s requirements and quickly took off towards the crates holding his wares, he then produced a nice looking scabbard with a leather handle and presented it towards the waiting man, who somehow forgot that he was talking and interacting with a beast after he saw the beautiful weapon.

The bird noticed this and silently smiled to himself, then he gave the sword towards the man and let him judge the weapon for himself.

When the man received the weapon from the bird, he was quite shocked and taken aback by the lightness of the sword, swinging it, he was even more amazed by how sturdy it felt. “Well balanced and light!” he exclaimed, he then looked towards the smiling bird and narrowed his eyes, he then pointed the swords towards the bird's slender neck and asked, “You, where did you steal this magnificent weapon?”

Eyes widening, not in fear but in amusement towards the man, the bird confidently answered, “I promise you sir I made that myself.”

Glaring, even more, the man tried to stab the bird for lying but instead of hearing a flesh getting punctured, the man felt the sword make contact with metal. “Wha--”

Smiling, the bird put a wingtip on the sword by his throat and slowly forced it away, somehow overpowering the man’s strength with his own, “Now, now, you don’t want to fight a master of Magicka, yes?” the bird said, grinning at the man who was looking like a fool after he uttered those words.

Gulping, the man slowly backed away from the bird, then he noticed that a lot of creatures were looking at them, some were even holding the hilt of their own weapons, ready to rush in help. The bird also noticed this and put his wings up in a placating manner, “Now, now folks! We’re all good here, I and this young wonderful man have already settled our differences peacefully, you all can go back to your jobs now.” exclaimed the bird, the creatures took a few seconds more before they followed his instructions and accepted his words. Smiling, the bird then returned his attention towards the man, only to find the spot where he was standing empty, except for a leather pouch haphazardly thrown to the ground. “Odd man.” the bird said to himself, wondering about the odd human he just had met.

  
  


* * *

  
  


_‘Damn it to hell!’_ thought the furious man, as he angrily walked the busy road leading to the market’s eastern exit. 

He was so furious about the recent event that he didn’t notice a group coming towards him on a bend by the road and since he was walking fast, he had no opportunity to evade the coming group. There was a sound of bodies impacting each other and then a commotion suddenly broke out, “The heck! Watch where you're going!” shouted the man, as he was bounced back quite hard towards the ground after he impacted something hard. Rubbing his back, he then opened his eyes and saw to his disbelief, a group of beasts staring at him. One of the beasts, a gumon, even tried to offer his spindly arms towards the fallen man, but he quickly slapped it off and muttered to himself, “Disgusting vermin don’t try and touch me.” 

Disregarding the jab towards him, Gon asked the man if he was alright and unhurt, only for him to receive a seething glare for his troubles. Huffing, the man took his fallen weapon and bag and continued his way without looking back towards the group, absolutely missing a certain creature that would have made his life easier.

“What a weird man,” says Gon, as he watched the man furiously walk away from them towards the exit to the main road leading outside the capital. “I mean I offered assistance after I bumped him, the least he could have done is take it.” he added, he then looked back towards his friends and saw them looking at the strange man as well, coughing and gathering their attention towards him and he asked, “Anyway, should we go buy us some weapons and armor now?”

The others who were also wondering about the strange man were thankful for the distraction given to them by their friend. “Right, let’s go then!” Ming said and led the group towards a kind bird she knew that sells good weapons and armor, the same bird, that unbeknownst to the group, had sold the man a sword and was the reason for his ire. 

The group walked the same route the man took, but they were in no hurry so they went their merry way and absorbed themselves in the architecture and the varying products being sold. 

“This place is really far different than mine!” Milan exclaimed, as he then pointed out towards a building that was built in stones and metal, “That building’s new. And are those metal?” he asked, curious about the new building and the metal that was supporting it.

Looking towards it, Ming nodded her head and said, “Yup and the metal is called a beam, it holds everything up in place for the stones to be put safely without the hazard of it falling down.”

Blinking his eyes dumbly, Kwago swerved his head all the way to his back and asked, “But, how did they make a metal that strong and large?” 

The group behind him was unnerved by Kwago’s head which was seemingly twisted to his back. “Umm, I think they made it with a machine or something,” Ming answered, greatly disturbed by the owl's gaze.

“I see!” Kwago happily answered and returned his head to a far more normal angle.

Blinking in disbelief and hearing his friends let out a sigh, Ao shook his head and muttered, “He didn’t even ask what kind of machine it was used to make that metal.” 

“It’s a huge machine that is operated by hundreds of people at once,” Ming whispered towards Ao after she heard him mutter about it.

Ao smiled towards his friend and winked at her, “Thanks,” he said. 

Giggling to herself, Ming answered, “You’re welcome,”.

The two smiled at each other and Ao sneakily reached up towards Ming’s paws in which she immediately clutched his paws when she felt them touching her’s.

“Really?” she then asked the grinning guardian.

Shrugging his shoulders, Ao turned his head back into the front and whispered. “Why not?”

Turning her head towards the front as well, Ming could only smile even more as she clutched Ao’s paws even harder. “Hmm, why not.” she simply uttered.

Their entire conversation was lost to the other creatures of the group as they were all busy admiring the place and talking to each other.

* * *

  
  


A later while, the group finally saw themselves at the place where the bird’s shop is located, looking around, Milan saw to his astonishment, a variety of shops selling wares and items to use, there was even a potion shop near a clothing store. “Wow,” he said.

“Wow indeed.” Ming answered, as she too looked around the place, but not in astonishment nor in curiosity, she was searching for her bird friend, ‘Now where are you Mister’ she thought. Then when her head came to the left, she finally spotted him, selling something to a human customer.

Smiling, Ming then gathered her friend's attention and pointed towards the bird and his store. “He’s over there guys, come on,” she said, and she happily marched towards the merchant, with her friends following behind.

“So, who’s this friend of yours?” Ao suddenly asked as he stepped alongside her. Looking at her friend, Ming replied, “He’s a good friend of mine since I was still a hatchling, been taking care of me sometimes, he’s name’s Austin but people here call him Ao, just like your name.” 

Surprised after hearing those words, more for knowing that the bird was somehow a part of her childhood than hearing they have the same name, Ao looked to his friend and said, “Wow, that’s something. I’m assuming that he’s a good creature then?”

“Very.” was Ming’s simple yet conviction filled reply.

Soon, the group found in the store, the bird, who was busy talking to a customer, took a few seconds to notice the new arrivals. When he did, he quickly greeted them but his greeting died down when he saw Ming standing among them looking a bit shy.

“Ming is that you!?” the bird, named Austin, exclaimed.

Smiling shyly, she took Ao’s paws yet again and waved her free paw in a greeting, “Yes papa Ao.” she replied.

Ao’s eyebrows rose high after hearing those words, and Milan, Gon, Kwago, and Snips, were also taken aback.

“He’s your papa!?” Milan suddenly exclaimed, pointing at the grinning secretary bird.

Snickering aloud, Austin put his wings in front and calmly said, “Now, now, I’m pretty sure we can talk about this stuff back inside the house yes?” in which the others could dumbly nod in response.

“Ming, my dear, would you love to bring your friends with you? Your papa Qaz is at home as well.” Austin said, telling Ming to bring her friends towards the house, which was located at the back of the store. Ming nodded her head in agreement and was quite excited to know that papa Qaz was also back home, “Come on guys, let’s get you settled down in the house, and I’ll introduce you to my papa Qaz.” she announced, and had the group follow her back towards the house.

While Snips was sniffing around the place profusely, quite bedazzled with all the new scent she was getting.

When the group finally arrived at the house, they saw an elegant looking house built on cement with birds and dragon sculptures lining the entrance, the blue door itself was filled with birds and dragon symbols all etched beautifully on the carved wood. 

“This place looks awesome!” Milan shouted as he kept looking around the entrance and seeing all the amazing decorations that were filling it.

“Yup, my papa Ao and papa Qaz live in quite a luxury.” Ming happily replied to her friend. Then she suddenly heard Gon and Kwago snickering behind her, looking back at them with a questioning gaze. “What?” she asked.

Couldn't hold it in any longer, the two burst out laughing, making Ming and others even more flabbergasted by them. Trying not to make them look like a bunch of lunatics, Gon and Kwago heaved for air and tried to stop their laughing, then Kwago looked towards the utterly confused Ming and answered, “You just called Ao papa!” and resumed laughing profusely. 

Blinking in confusion, Ming shook her head and glared towards the laughing Owl, letting out a sigh she then put her paws on her hips and asked, “And what does that suppose to mean really?”

Snickering for a few moments after hearing the question, Kwago answered with a laugh, “You just called Ao, papa.!” and pointed to Ao, who was taken aback after that. 

“Excuse me?” Ao said as he pointed to himself, “But, I’m not papa Ao.” he replied.

Eyes widening in understanding, Ming started giggling and she covered her mouth with her paws, she then looked at Gon and Kwago who was looking at her dumbly, “Pft, I didn’t mean him when I said Papa Ao!” she said, pointing towards the chaffed guardian. “Hey now!” Ao exclaimed with a comical expression adorning his face.

Rolling her eyes, Ming lolled her tongue out and hushed her friend.

Meanwhile, Milan and Snips were both looking at their friends with the same expression of dullness. “Ummm... What do you think they’re talking about bud?” he asked Snips, who just huffed and lolled her tongue out. “Right.” Milan simply said as he saw his Snapper’s reaction.

Moments later, the door of the house opened, and the group suddenly felt silent, holding their collective breath, they waited for the creature who opened the door to come out, slowly, a creature from inside came out, and as the light showed his features, the group, except Ming, were even more taken aback. Because the creature who came out of the house was no ordinary creature at all, it was a bipedal dragon. 

The dragon, with black scales, sharp intelligent brown eyes, and powerful muscles looked over the cowering group, scrutinizing them one by one, he was quite taken by surprise when he saw the spirit guardian among them but he didn’t show it, although, he did show surprise when he saw someone dear to him along with the group. Eyes widening, and throat clogging in, the dragon slowly looked at the creature over and silently asked, in a strong but gentle voice, “Ming?”

Smiling a bit, and holding unto Ao, whom she got taken hold of when she heard the doors open, looked at the black dragon with fondness and answered in a soft, quiet voice, “Yes, Papa. It’s me.”

* * *

**Done!**  
  
**Ori and the Blind forest & Will of the Wisps belongs to Microsoft Studios/Xbox Game Studios and Moon Studios**

**This story belongs to me, and Yuna**


End file.
